

tic 




V 


< 


< < 


C 


C« 


| 


c 


< 


c 

c 

c 


; 


z < 


C«. < 




c 


* 


^ c 


c 


« 


C c 


c 


t < 4 


c < 


c 


cc •< 


> c 


c 


. <■< ^ 


«- 






F 1 




< 


I < 


: < . 


< <r: 


c 


< < 




CI; 


< C 




« 





<: 


.' 4 


~- 


o 


<: 




c 

< c < 


< 

<: 


« 


^ l '• 


5^ 


< 


c c 




< 


< < <; 


r- 


c 


<r 




c 


C < < 




c 


C Cci 


!"^l 


c 


c c 


«r 


r 


< c 


»- - 




C C 


^ 




CCC 


C* 


1- 


c c 




^ 


< c 


<oc 


- 







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, f 



i UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 

m 



*fC 




rfT" * 




*«: 


it * 






*r « 


c< 




C ^ 


<: <: 


« 


* 4C 




^^3B 


C <1 


<- < 


DCiM 


E << 


c < 


^ 


c <L< 


etc 


«. 


h <5 


< < 


<^ 


d <z< 


<■ c 


• c 


^A «? 


«-< c 


m? 


r*<r^ 


ca 


«* 


: <s 


CCC 


^ < 


a <x 


C"( < 


«£ 


«r «r< 


c< < 


<8 


4T~ -<C« 


c c 

c c 


< 




c: 
< < 


: 4 


^~~ 


C c 


: <k 


c: 


c « 


e « 


<X 


<L « 


C <: 


<r 


CL 


C^ < 


Csr 


<: 


<: 


:■ <sr 


<r 


«r 


<? 


d< 


c 


cr 


d 


<:. 


^ <x 


«. 


. <: 


cr <r 


«- « 


<^ 


c <r 




« <T 


c <r 


LT»3ti 


c: 


<■ <?. 


CC 


■ c; 


< c^ 


^c 


«: 


< <£ 


<^ 


<: 


< C< 


DC 


■ 


C <3 


St 


< ' c 


c <? 




c < < 


, < a 


<*r 




«= c c 


i ac 


<r c 


C <5 


C 


r c 

< c 


-. <~ <L 


« 


-. c <s 


< 


c c 



c.< C 
C2< C 

C i • 



< <s C 
<: ^ c 



C 




< 
c 

< 


CC'C< 


<- 

c 
sr 


CCCC 

cC C 

c c 






* <^ 



<^£ 



c c: 



'-Ccr «c 



<r <cj <^ v. 



«r3SSB£-S 


















or 

cc: « 






<acT 


c " 

* 


nil 


«r~~~* 


, c 


^B2 







cfss 


<3C 

"rftT_ 







< c < c 

< C c C 

< C CCOt 
c <: « CT. 

<rcc <*x 

< <r OCT* 






CL<3 C 



"T< oc 



THE 



HAKMONIAL MAN 



OR, 



THOUGHTS FOR THE AGE 



BY 



ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 

AUTHOR OF "NATURE'S DIVINE REVELATIONS," "HARMONIA," ETC. ETC. 









*- 



Let our unceasing, earnest prayer 
Be e'er for light, and strength to bear 
Our portion of the weight of care 
That crushes into dumb despair 
One half the human race." 




- BOS 
BELA MARSH, PUBLISHER, 25 CORNHILL. 

18. 



¥ 






t>% 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 
ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 



STEREOTYPED BY 

HOBART <fc ROBBINS; 

NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDER Y, 
BOSTON. 



PREFACE 



The contents of this little book are designed to enlarge 
man's views concerning the political and ecclesiastical 
condition of our country, and to point out, or at least to 
suggest, the paths of reform which the true Harmonial 
Man should tread. We stand at the opposite extreme 
of Catholicism ; regarding all intervening organizations 
as pillars supporting the arched bridge connecting the 
Old with the New World. 

A large proportion of this book is devoted to a consid- 
eration of scientific themes which concern man's social 
and personal happiness, and to a class of suggestions 
whereby certain meteoric laws may be made to subserve 
the physical development of the race. It is earnestly 
hoped that in these considerations, and the pages suc- 
ceeding, the reader may find food for Thought, and feel 
henceforth strengthened, and inwardly disposed to be- 
come, as nearly as possible, a Harmonial Man. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE SOCIETY 1 

THE INFLUENCE OF CHURCHES. 

THE NECESSITY OF ORGANIC LIBERTY. 

MANKIND'S NATURAL NEEDS. 

THE MEANS BY WHICH TO SECURE THEM. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING RAIN. 

A STATEMENT OF POPULAR THEORIES 

THE CAUSES OF RAIN EXPLAINED. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONTROLLING RAIN. 

ANSWER TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIONS. 

PLAGIARISM — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 

WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY 1 

THE PIRATE'S SIMPLE NARRATIVE. 



HOW SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND? 



This world is a theatre of incessant action ; the 
scenes change perpetually ; the actors come and go like 
autumnal clouds ; and the parts which they perform are 
comic or serious, dramatic or tragic, invariably, in 
accordance with the moral culture and external circum- 
stances of the actors. 

I am impressed to affirm that every man has a part 
of his own to perform, assigned to him by the Supernal 
Soul of Nature — a part in which he can only excel, be 
happy, and become favorably distinguished. This " nat- 
ural part" is stamped upon the entire constitution of the 
man ; slumbers in his bones ; lives in his muscles ; 
breathes in each element ; ripples through each vein and 
artery to their fountain-head ; mounts to his brain, — to 
the throne of his organism, — becomes, there, the radiant 
genius of his nature, the prime minister of his attrac- 
tions, the sovereign of his life. This natural character 
is the only character a man can sustain with happiness to 
himself, or benefit to others. 

The trouble of the world is, that man is not permitted 
to act his nature out — to live in accordance with the 
attractions which God has given him. And what follows ? 
1* 



This : — inasmuch as action of some kind is emphatically 
demanded as essential to his mental happiness and 
physical existence, therefore he is compelled to assume 
a false character — is forced to take a part not natur- 
ally his own ; and forthwith there issues from that mis- 
directed man, as with a studied duplicity he performs 
before the world, a legion of discords and incongruities, 
at times so unexpected and diabolical, as to suggest 
the existence of a certain nocturnal being, the Devil ; 
who, it is by many believed, can be kept at a re- 
spectful distance only by establishing theological fort- 
resses, and the maintenance of a standing army of 
well-paid and well-educated clergymen ! (So long as 
this army is well- circumstanced, so long will there con- 
tinue to be plenty of volunteers.) The Devil is a 
symbol suggested and entirely manufactured by the 
abounding discords and hypocrisies which proceed, 
not out of the asserted depravity and blackness of 
the human heart, — the organ of love ; but, on the 
contrary, out of human ignorance, — out of the defects 
and deformities of human society, into which the indi- 
vidual at birth is ushered, without any "consent" on 
his part or reasonable preparation! You inquire, "Who 
made society?" I reply, It is made by man! For, 
manifestly, society results from a multiplication and asso- 
ciation of the human type. Again, you ask, "If man 
made society, and society is replete with discords and 
wickedness, is not man the source thereof? Is not man 
the cause, and society the effect ?" I answer, that, viewed 
superficially and from "appearances," as most minds 
inspect all problems, this question seems to furnish the 
only plain and reasonable answer which can be given to 
it : it seems to say, in accordance with the law of nat- 



ural inference, that man is the source of discord and the 
author of wrong. And the remedy appears to be, that 
man, individually and of his own free-will, must be mirac- 
ulously " changed at heart" and sup ernatur ally expur- 
gated, before we can reasonably expect any higher or 
happier social construction. I say, all this seems to be 
sound reasoning ; and the church has uniformly adopted 
it. 

I have alluded to the "Devil" as the nocturnal being 
upon whose broad shoulders the Christian clergy lay the 
origin of all human evil and misdirection. . Now I do 
not wish to prejudice you against this hypothetical person- 
age without good and incontrovertible reasons. I know 
how necessary this mythologic "individual" is to the 
preaching profession. He is the man of straw in 
chancery — the patron of the priesthood — and I may 
add, truthfully, the chief cause of much intellectual 
blindness and popular sectarianism ! It is for these rea- 
sons, coupled with about thirty others yet unexpressed, 
that I feel impressed to prejudice you against this ori- 
ental superstition. And I clo this at the risk of incurring 
the displeasure of our theologic brethren, who, from the 
force of birth and education alone, honestly regard this 
personage as the best stock in their line of business. 

This habit of individuals — this fact in history — this 
system of ethics, of referring human errors and evils to 
unreal or imaginary causes, instead of searching out and 
removing their real sources, — not only trammels the 
intellect, oppresses the feelings, and frightens children 
exceedingly, but it plays sad havoc with all progressive 
measures in either politics or religion. But it is said, 
" Take away the fear of the devil, and you remove all 
restraints from the wicked." 



8 

Nay, good reader — I tell you, nay! The poor and 
unprogressed (often the splendidly misdirected) class, 
whom we call " wicked/ ' are benefited and reformed by 
principles of goodness — not by the presentation of brim- 
stone retreats or imps clad in garments of sulphur ! 

Clergymen stand in the capacity of attorneys, to 
conduct our spiritual cause between earth and heaven. 
Or they are our physicians — our doctors of divinity — 
employing the same old remedies, "playing upon the 
hopes and fears of mankind with changeful skill" ! But 
suppose we venture to ask, "What good have they 
accomplished? What have the sects done toward uni- 
versal reform?" Shall we trip across the Atlantic to 
" cast the mote " from our neighbor's eye ? Kather let 
us look at our own country. Saying nothing about the 
distant nations, the gospel, so-called (with the doctrine 
of Diabolus and Gehenna annexed), has been preached 
in these United States for nearly two hundred years ! 
And I have examined the expenses attending all this, 
and discover that the whole Church Mechanism — meet- 
ing-houses, publishing-houses, home and foreign missions, 
tract- distributing societies, preaching, and other purte- 
nances — cost, in America, not less than eighteen millions 
of dollars annually; — or, enough in principal to provide, 
in two years' time, every poor family with a good cottage 
on an acre of land! 

The question is, "What has the world gained by all 
this expenditure and extravagance?" Let the clergy 
respond. They say from their pulpits, and their peri- 
odicals frequently reiterate it, that "mankind are growing 
worse continually, and the great majority will be eter- 
nally miserable " ! It seems, therefore, from these their 
own acknowledgments, that the theologico- allopathic 



remedies — their Satan, their doctrine of eternal punish- 
ment — is doing no real substantial good in the world. 
And I trust they will not feel offended if we entertain 
the same opinion. 

But how pleasing it is to know that all good men, of 
whatever age, sect, or clime, are humanitary at heart, — 
praying continually to "our Father who art in heaven' ' 
for the universal establishment of his harmonious govern- 
ment on earth. And in this grand desire, in this glori- 
ous prayer, we are one with our opposers. Of course 
there is great diversity of opinion as to the means of 
bringing all this good about — whether by a miraculous 
interference on the part of the Supreme Being, or by an 
application of the laws of nature to the reformation of 
Society. The question is, " What agencies will bring 
this good to man ?" And every party in Politics, every 
Legislative Act, every Creed and form of Sectarianism, 
are so many individual replies to this question — so 
many different solutions of the problem. 

You see, therefore, that this question — viz., "How 

SHALL WE IMPROVE MANKIND and HARMONIZE SOCIETY?" is 

the greatest question of the age ; it is, emphatically, the 
question of the world ; and the world, in attempting to 
answer it, is thrown into a vortex of political turmoil and 
sectarian jargon unexampled in the history of humankind. 
My* impression is, in this chapter, to indicate the path 
which progressive minds may tread, in order to solve 
the practical question now sketched out before us. And, 
let me ask, Will you, reader, look truths — or at least the 
statements which I shall make — directly in the face ? All 
the Harmonial Philosophy requires, is, a candid audience, 
and a rational verdict legitimately deduced from the 
premises. 



10 

The philosophy of the Soul — of the material Universe 
— of the spiritual Realm — of the eternal Progression of 
matter and mind — of spirits and angels — all will be 
superlatively unsound and transcendently chimerical, 
unless the whole philosophy is susceptible of becoming 
practically demonstrated in the life of every nation — in 
the daily walk and conversation of the individual soul ! 
If we desire the kingdom of heaven, let us live accord- 
ingly, and become its angels. 

My first impressions of a perfect human society came 
from an examination of the order and unity which reign 
in the sidereal systems, among the stars. And I have, 
from time to time, throughout my lectures, obeyed these 
1 'impressions " in striving to give mankind definite hints 
of them. The system of the stars is on this wise : — the 
worlds of different orders, groups, and magnitudes are 
arranged in hierarchies, or, more properly, into Patri- 
archal relationship, as seen in the family where children 
revolve about the parental centre of Influence. The 
satellites burn around their planets, and the planets 
around their central sun ; which sun concentrates all the 
attractions of the family, and in exchange returns to each 
of these worlds his own influence in the shape of space, 
order, heat and light ! There are, in this family of stars, 
"no perturbations, no shocks, no rebellion and disordered 
movements.' ' All these stars, — each with its proper life, 
each with its atmosphere, its seas, its continents peopled 
with appropriate beings, — are guided in movements so 
calculated, "that days and nights, summers and winters, 
follow each other harmoniously in their meridians and 
zones!" They execute their multiform revolutions, — 
traverse, in prescribed times, their immense orbic paths ; 
which paths they trace around the patriarchic sun, 



11 

"interlacing and gracefully crossing each other like the 
figures of a well- arranged dance." Such are the acknowl- 
edged beauty and unity of the heavenly bodies. 

It is no impression of mine to urge you to the forma- 
tion of any local and isolated attempts to realize any- 
thing like this Harmony in human society. Surely, we 
have enough of abortive and imperfect efforts to reform 
the world ! Witness the Mormon plan ; the Shaker plan ; 
the Christian, the Temperance, the Benevolent and the 
Prison Reform Societies ; also sentimental Communities ; 
Industrial communities ; Odd Fellows ; Free Masons ; 
Anti- Capital Punishment and Anti-Slavery Societies. 
These prove the efforts and love of mankind for man! 
But they are all local, despotic to some extent, and sadly 
adapted to the demands of Universal Justice. And yet, 
for what they have done on the side of freedom and 
charity ', let us express our eternal gratitude. 

But I ask you to adopt no local plans, — only such 
measures as may conserve the purposes of bringing you 
into closer fraternal relations, to the end that you may con- 
ceive of united methods of assisting the world's Progres- 
sion. We have had enough of sectarianism ; enough 
churches built. Let us now leave all useless forms, and 
become the champions of Principle. In this chapter I 
shall try to show you the path which a true habmonial 
man should tread. He should not cease his labors until 
the society of men shall resemble the system of the 
stars already described. 

The perfect reconciliation of, or harmony between, Lib- 
erty and Law, between an unwavering government and no 
government at all, is beautifully revealed to us in the 
world of planets. And yet planetary government is, 
after all, but a fractional exhibition of that system of 



12 

reciprocal Justice and Liberty which are more perfectly 
revealed in the constitution of a well-developed and har- 
monial man. Such a man exhibits the finite degrees 
of that perfect image and likeness which characterize 
the Just, the Wise, the Infinite ! All true government, 
it seems to me, must be based upon the principles of 
simple Unity or Order represented in the Human 
Form. When we see an individual in perfect health, in 
perfect harmony with himself, and in harmony with the 
world about him ; then, so far as a single person can 
represent it, we behold a glorified type of the whole 
human Race. The unity of the race is thus placed in 
miniature before our eyes ! It is chiselled out by the 
hand of consummate Divine Wisdom ; enlivened by the 
breath of Divine Love ! I am no man worshipper ; but 
I reverence human nature in the aggregate. He is a 
microcosm — the universe in miniature — bearing upon 
his person the marks of a Divine Parentage ; the pledge 
of an immortal inheritance ! 

In the present order of society it is found that almost 
all law is tyranny ; and liberty is but another term for 
anarchy and confusion. But why is it so ? Have we 
no explanation, except the blindness and depravity of 
man ? Yea, verily ; we have escaped from the dreadful, 
destructive bondage of this imp of theologic ignorance ; 
and being free, with our eyes open to truth, we see the 
solution of law and tyranny, liberty and anarchy, in the 
social and moral restraints to which man is subjected. 
Arbitrary law is unnatural ; so, also, is its reaction. If 
the laws of society were based on the Principles of Na- 
ture, then their operation upon individual interests would 
be like sunlight upon spears of grass in the meadow. 
So still and so harmonious would they be, with all 



13 

existing needs and personal attractions, that man would 
not realize the operation of any law whatever. Just as a 
healthy man remains unconscious, while he remains healthy, 
of the existence even of visceral organs in his body. But 
he becomes cognizant of the laws and organs of his 
physical being, for the first time, whenever he does any- 
thing contrary to their normal harmonies. Now this can- 
not be said of existing laws and governments. They are 
enforced only at the expense of much individual liberty 
and social happiness. Can you have a clearer evidence 
of their unnaturalness ? 

Reader : you have great responsibilities resting upon 
you, because your light is great ! As the bonds of 
Ignorance are severed, as the chains of superstition 
crumble before the onward progress of your soul toward 
light and Freedom ; so, proportionably, should and will 
you arise in the natural majesty of manhood, and become 
the saviour of your brethren now in Bondage. Man must 
be Free — if not through the law, why, then, above the 
law ; till the ends of Justice be had, and experience 
brings a better ! For all legislation is tyranny, unless 
based upon the physical and moral Laws of Man. In 
Upper Europe you may see the proofs by which Despot- 
ism pretends to demonstrate that man is a species of wild 
beast, that he needs a master, and is only safe in chains. 
All this proceeds directly from the Mosaic system. It is 
the accredited testimony of Heaven against poor human 
nature. And so, every legislative act is made to oppress, 
and every civil and religious establishment has conspired 
to crush,' the natural tendencies of man toward Truth 
and Liberty. Your ears may be assailed by the dismal 
groans of a dogmatic theology ; your eyes may see the 
sneers of undeveloped and sceptical minds ; but heed 
2 



14 

them not ! Put your confidence in the Principles of 
Nature ; press onward for the physical rights and moral 
liberties of man ! 

A people will rapidly progress toward truth and Or- 
ganic Liberty if they but remain, inflexibly, the friends 
of Free Speech ; the guardians of .unlimited discussion. 
You are admonished to see well to this. ICJ^ NeveY 
permit the Government, Public Opinion, or the Church, 
to gag the free-born soul ! To secure ourselves against 
this calamity, a high-toned moral courage is absolutely 
essential. FEAR of free discussion is the strongest sceptre 
in the hand of error and despotism. Priests and rulers 
are strong when the people fear to examine their follies 
and expose their crimes. We, Americans, as a people, 
although in advance of other nations, are, as yet, weak 
and timid in this point. True, we subject schemes of 
public policy to the most rigid scrutiny, and reveal their 
merits and demerits in vivid contrasts ; but the churches 
— or the dogmas of the churches — are still permitted to 
impose a gag — a restriction — on free thought; per- 
mitted to render unpopular (and consequently disrepu- 
table), a liberal inspection of its fundamental principles. 
The terrors of excommunication, of anathema, of being 
eternally lost, are presented to all minds which show the 
first indication of taking sides with the fearless and the 
free. This is a sad condition — when a man may talk 
on politics freely, and not so on theology. It is even 
esteemed a meddlesome thing for a preacher to apply 
the laws of religion to politics. 

And do you see the evil which this state of things en- 
genders ? The evil is this : conscience is divorced from 
politics. The government of the country is one thing ; 
religion — that is quite another ! Hence, the impression 



13 

has become general, and the tyrants of the Old World 
point it out to their subjects, that an American politician 
lets but little conscience into his acts and writings. This 
is a very serious accusation. I wish, in my soul, it were 
possible to denounce it as a slander ! Nay; it is so true, 
and so serious, too, that American clergymen consider it 
good policy neither to meddle with the affairs of state, 
with that "domestic matter," southern slavery, nor yet 
to exercise the right of suffrage. This is what tyrants 
term " the immorality of Republics ! " 

This country is not safe in its present condition. Her 
liberties, being for the most part sentimental, not organic 
and constitutional, are vulnerable at all points. 

I have carefully looked into the invisible doings of 
political and ecclesiastical Absolutism ; and I perceive 
that they deliberately employ emissaries in all Free 
States to undermine them. Russia, Prussia, Austria, 
Rome, fear nothing on this earth so much as this country's 
progress toward Organic Liberty and attractive industry. 
But the tyrants of Europe still hope, in the absence of 
these inherent securities, to overthrow our institutions. 
Political Europe sends her artful spies to our country ; 
ecclesiastical Europe, her indomitable Jesuits. I behold 
them in every State in the Union ! They come in the 
disguise of "merchants," "chemists" and "travellers"! 
Now let us ask, "What point do they assail? What 
policy do they pursue V 

I will tell you : they glory in the conflict between the 
North and South ; in the confusion among the political 
parties now so numerous ; and, by taking advantage of 
this, they strive to destroy man's faith in man. And our 
orthodox religion, by its denunciations of the tendencies 
of human nature, help these spies and Jesuits almost 



16 

like intentional accomplices. If these misdirected men 
of Europe can beget a general scepticism in human 
nature, then the way to an ultimate prostration of our 
Kepublic is easily travelled. The spies are sworn enemies 
to political and ecclesiastical liberty. And they have 
this plan among themselves : 

"Let us appeal to the poor classes, and exasperate them 
against the rich ; let us, on the other hand, fill the 
privileged classes with haughty suspicion of the prospec- 
tive triumph of Mobocracy, and with a love for distinction 
and rule ; let us fan smouldering sparks into flames, and 
add fuel to the fire of every city riot ; let us promote the 
organization of a large police in cities, encourage neg- 
ligence on the part of municipal officials, and stimulate 
the passion for military glory, by encouraging the desire 
to have military chieftains for chief magistrates ; let us 
turn the free press into mercenary machines, for large 
sums of money, to put this or that man into public favor, 
or this or that man into disgrace and oblivion. Let us 
insinuate through the veins and arteries of this nation the 
subtle doctrines of fear, machination, and the necessity 
of a government of force." Such, in substance, is the 
plan of those misdirected men who favor Upper Europe. 

Friends of Freedom : the most fatal disease is always 
invisible. So, also, is its antidote. The Harmonial 
Philosophy — the foe equally of American Protestantism 
and of Roman Catholicity — is the only power unto sal- 
vation from these national dangers. There will be a 
battle between Tyranny and Liberty. But your weapons 
must not be common swords and bayonets. On the 
contrary, a high-toned Press, uniting legislation, sound- 
hearted public documents, conceived and executed in 
the light of the new dispensation, — these are the most 



17 

irresistible artillery. The best fortresses are free 
schools, free churches, free teachers of science — of the 
laws of cause and effect — of religion! Let me impress 
you, reader, that the safety of a true Harmonial Repub- 
lic consists in organic liberty, which brings to every 
man his natural Rights and attractive Industry ! Says a 
writer: " Open and accessible markets; unrestricted in- 
land and coast navigation ; rivers stirring with steamboats 
and glistening with sails ; railroads interlinking all cities 
and villages ; telegraphs, with their net-work of iron 
nerves ; richly cultivated harvest fields, orchards and 
vineyards ; buzzing manufactories, in which every laborer is 
a proprietor ; a sound and safe representative currency ; 
universal education ; the banishment of religious and 
political slavery ; the destruction of all illiberal rules of 
government ; perfect faith in the divinity of every man — 
in the omnipotency of truth ; home, comforts, above the 
possibility of ultimate destitution ; cooperative industry 
and proprietorship, harmonizing Capital and Labor ; art- 
istic amusements, and the dramatic attractions of refine- 
ment," making our country the best place in the world for 
the industrious. These are your weapons of safety, the 
stepping-stones toward Peace and Unity ! 

Let no enthusiast persuade you, reader, that this world 
will be suddenly reformed. Let no man, with the organ 
of hope inflated and reflection enfeebled, persuade you 
that Miracles are to be wrought, transcending the laws of 
nature. But be ye firm, uncompromising, progressive chil- 
dren of an enlightened Reason ; the lovers of principle, 
detesting the measures of policy ; the champions and 
doers of Universal Justice. We have churches enough — 
preachers enough — enough of jails. Men have made 
many laws; wasted much time and talent, exhibited 
2* 



. 18 

much attorneyship and cupidity, in discussing the merits 
and demerits of parties and political factions ; have con- 
tributed to the punishment of sinners in this world, and 
to support the doctrine which informs of their damnation 
in the next ; the sea swarms with their ships ; the 
savage lands are visited by missionaries ; they have 
united in the general contest for individual riches and 
luxury ; but, my friends, have you not now a new life 
and work before you? Inhabitants of America ! — the 
education and exaltation of the new race depend upon 
you ; the vindication of human nature, the destruction 
of superstition, the destinies of the nations, hang upon 
you. I beseech you, see to it ! 

Man is just awakening, from his long sleep of ages, to 
a vigorous perception of his natural rights and spiritual 
powers. As man advances in wisdom, and in proportion 
as his mind becomes illuminated by the Principles of Uni- 
versal Nature, even so will he more and more realize the 
beauties and blessings of that Liberty which is Truth and 
Harmony. 

Human society will immensely be improved and exalted 
by still better systems of Common School Education. 
The present system has the effect to create an odious dis- 
tinction between the poor and the rich. This is wrong, 
prejudicial to social harmony, and leads to sectarian 
forms of conservatism, and to destructive plans of 
reformation. Our schools should be, as they are in some 
States fast becoming, the platform of thorough education 
and republican principles. Still there are men who wish 
to make and perpetuate a distinction between schools for 
the poor and schools for the rich, in society. Upon this, 
Bishop Doane most nobly remarks : 

"We utterly repudiate, as unworthy, not of freemen 



19 

only, but of men, the narrow notion, that there is to be 
an education for the poor as such. Has God provided 
for the poor a coarser earth, a thinner air, a paler sky ? 
Does not the glorious sun pour down his golden flood as 
cheerfully upon the poor man's cottage as upon the rich 
man's palace ? Have not the cottagers' children as keen 
a sense of. all the freshness, verdure, fragrance, melody, 
and beauty of luxuriant nature, as the pale sons of kings ? 
Or is it in the mind God has stamped the imprint of a 
base birth, so that the poor man's child knows with an 
inborn certainty that his lot is to crawl, not to climb ? 

' ' It is not so. God has not done it. Man cannot do 
it. Mind is immortal. Mind is imperial. It bears no 
mark of high or low — rich or poor. It heeds no bound 
of time or place, of rank or circumstances. It asks but 
freedom. It requires but light. It is heaven-born, and 
it aspires to heaven. Weakness does not enfeeble it. 
Poverty cannot repress it. Difficulties do but stimulate 
its vigor. And the poor tallow-chandler's son, that sits 
up all night to read the book which an apprentice lends 
him, lest his master's eye should miss it in the morning, 
shall stand and treat with kings ; shall bind the lightning 
with an hempen cord, and bring it harmless from the 
skies. The common school is common, not as inferior, 
not as the school for poor men's children, but as the light 
and air is common. It ought to be the best school : and 
in all good works the beginning is one half. Who does 
not know the value to a community of a plentiful supply 
of the pure element of water ? And infinitely more than 
this is the common school ; for it is the fountain at which 
the mind drinks, and it is refreshed and strengthened for 
its career of usefulness and glory." 

More education, less legislation, is loudly demanded. 



20 

Do not think that this world is to be elevated by govern- 
mental arrangements, by improved codes of common law, 
and more liberal legislation. Far from it. If I can 
place any confidence in the sweet, yet strong, impressions 
which enter the superior faculties of my being, then I 
tell you the truth, when I affirm, that man's rights can 
be secured, not by making new laws, but by repealing 
those, already in effect, which are found to militate 
against, and positively to conflict with, the natural 
rights, liberties, and sovereignty of the individual. Re- 
member, friends of Progress, that it is the absence of 
bad laws, the abrogation of all complicated legislation 
and rule, which will secure individual liberty, and social 
unity, in America, or in any other country. 

General Education, I repeat, is needed ; not in the 
spiritless doctrines of Sectarianism, but in the vitalizing 
doctrines of Liberty, Fraternity, and Unity. For Igno- 
rance is prevalent in all countries. It deforms and de- 
grades men ; keeps them under the dominion of sense ; 
makes them slaves to the caprices of ambitious rulers ; 
fills them with superstitions ; and renders man the mere 
circumstance of physical being ! 

When I gaze upon the nations, my soul sickens at the 
triumph of Ignorance,^ — the demon of Gehenna, the imp 
of darkness, whose only food is sadness, sorrow, desper- 
ation, and woe ; going from cradle to cradle, from hovel 
to palace, roaring like a lion; filling the world with foes, 
and fanatics, with crimes, cruelty, and idiocy ; while, 
at the same time, there is so much to bless and refine 
man : the vaulted heavens, the prodigal earth, the neigh- 
boring Land of Spirits, and the abiding presence of 
Supernal Love and Truth ! And I say truly, when I 
affirm, that the Roman Catholic and Protestant systems 



21 

of religion lend their influence, in different ways, to 
foster a certain kind of ignorance, and to perpetuate the 
existing social falsities. 

From all this, therefore, you are, kind reader, admon- 
ished to break away. Arise in the strength of your man- 
hood, and be the pioneer — first to explore and people the 
"land of promise ;" be the friend of education. The 
population of France, as it comes to me, can read about 
four in ten ; the population of England, one in seven ; in 
Prussia, one person in eleven ; in Russia, one in three 
hundred and fifty; but in this country, thanks to the bless- 
ings of incipient liberty, the people are nearly all able to 
read ! 

Here, then, we have a foundation to work upon. The 
people can read truth as easily as error. Go forth, there- 
fore, ye "Harinonial Brothers, " — go forth! teach your 
brethren the Principles of Nature, and expand their 
minds into unity and strength ! Let Universal Justice be 
emblazoned on your banners ; and teach the people to 
distinguish the means by which the greatest happiness 
may be secured to the greatest number. And in propor- 
tion as the people become enlightened in truthful princi- 
ples, so will they repeal bad laws, make government more 
unitary, and live more comprehensive lives. In this way 
you can hasten the "new dispensation,' ' far more than 
by any isolated embryo organization of social interests. 

Do you still ask, "How should we go to this work? 
What means employ? " 

Again, and again — the spirit- world exclaims, and 
adopts as a principle, that — 

" Every human being has a right to the possession and 
enjoyment of four conditions : — 

First : A farm without mortgage. 



22 

Second : A home without discord. 

Third : A country without slavery. 

Fourth : A religion without creeds. >y 

These conditions can be secured only by and through 
Organic Liberty. Liberty is the parent of Anarchy wher- 
ever it is entertained as a mere sentiment, — as a poem 
or as a song, in the savage mind. The salvation of the 
world lies in " Organic Liberty." And America is des- 
tined to bring this saviour into being ; it will be born 
in a manger ; but the kings of the earth shall bow before 
its simple grandeur and majesty ! America, in her 
present state, is but the representative of transitional 

REPUBLICANISM AND SENTIMENTAL FREEDOM ! This is the 

cause of so much political antagonism, — of so much 
party vice and deception ! And this is the cause, also, 
of the strength of foreign despotism ; the sneers of 
kings and slave-holders at American institutions. 

In order to secure Organic Liberty, as exhibited in the 
Principles of Nature, you are admonished to form your- 
selves into a 

HARMONIAL BROTHERHOOD, 

whose Politics and Religion will be one and the same 
thing. The government will permit no monopolizing of 
the land by the few, to the injury of the many ; and will 
arrange all kinds of industry so concordantly with indi- 
vidual attractions and qualifications, as that a just remu- 
neration for it will no longer be the degrading incentive 
to labor, as now, but its accompaniment ; for, when 
properly arranged, Industry is Happiness. These con- 
ditions, as I am impressed, can be attained by adopting, 
forthwith, as a Band of Brothers, certain instrumen- 
talities, now in being, as your weapons. 



23 

First : Free Speech, unlimited discussion. 

Second : Free schools for the masses. 

Third : Freedom of the press, by the fecundating power 
of which, you may shower upon the people the evangels 
of peace on earth, in the shape of newspapers, periodicals, 
pamphlets, tracts of the hour, and songs of Truth. 

Fourth : Free churches and honest teachers. 

Fifth : And Nature's own religion. 

Dear reader, do you not see your field — your glori- 
ous work — your means of warfare ? I do not undertake 
to disguise the design, which is given me to feel, that 
your Harmonial Philosophy must be your politics and 
your religion ! 

In conclusion, let me remark, that, with these pkinci- 
ples in your souls, inspiring you with the desire to make 
universal Love the bridal companion of universal Wis- 
dom, you should exercise "the right of suffrage." By 
so doing, and using the means already specified, you may 
refine sentiment, and advance public policies ; purge the 
existing parties of their gambling propensities, and there- 
by destroy them root and branch ; and secure correcter 
conclusions on all public questions. And so, friends of 
humanity ! so you may learn the masses to venerate the 
Principles of Universal Truth and Unity ; teach the 
rising generation to apply the right of suffrage to the 
highest and holiest purposes ; obtain the enfranchisement 
of the slave ; secure the fraternization of all Europe ; 
the analysis of all religions ; the elevation of the heathen 
into harmonious nationalities ; unlimited commerce ; and 
the establishment of the Spiritual Church of Humanity. 

It is something to us, my friends, that this hemisphere 
— our country — is already the battle-field of Truth and 
Error. The problems of the world are to be tested here, 



24 

on American soil. Every theory of human improvement 
is to be thrown into the retort of absolute experiment, 
and tried thoroughly. The most utopian and diabolical 

— the celestial and terrestrial — are to have their acts on 
the stage. And thus the era of Plato, — "the Spiritual 
Age " — will gradually steal into the world, when the 
divinity, and value, and natural connections of all things, 

— of Music and Poetry, — of Industry and Art, — of Sci- 
ence, Phenomena, Philosophy, Theology and Life, — 

ARE TO BE UNBOSOMED AND REVEALED ! Old Theology is 

to disgorge its errors ; new Theology its mighty truths. 
In America we see the " Hope " of the World ; the "only 
son" of the Nations, out of whose Constitution will yet 
be born a new Social, Political, and Keligious United 
States. Philosophy, at once the Incarnation of divine 
love and divine wisdom, in its mighty sweep, mapping 
out the whole nature, duty, and destiny of Man, is even 
now the morning Star, the thrice-glorious herald of the 

COMING DAY. 



25 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRODUCING AND CONTROL- 
LING THE FALL OF RAIN. 



That the true Harmonial man is destined to apply the 
greater portion of mundane laws to the elevation and 
happiness of the race, — that he will advance, by means 
of experiment and mental progression, to a stand-point, 
from which the common physical processes of Nature will 
promptly subserve his beneficent purposes, — is demon- 
strated by what he has already accomplished in the 
world of material sciences. Matter is the foundation of 
Mind. Mind is the spiritualization of Matter. The supe- 
rior portion of any organism is invariably positive to the 
dependent parts and functions, which are, therefore, 
negative, and, consequently, controllable by the superior 
power. The human Mind, like a flower, was unfolded 
gradually out of the universal Tree of Life, — I mean, 
out of the eternal constitution of the infinite Whole. It 
is marching forward and upward, attaining more and 
more unto sovereignty of influence, and becoming daily 
the most startling and incomprehensible wonder of the 
world, — the mystery which only superior Intelligences 
can ever hope to fathom. 

What I have recently discovered in respect to man's 
future doings amid the elements that are now playing 

3 



wildly among the clouds, the mountains and lofty peaks, 
yet untamed and undisciplined, will be found set forth in 
the following four letters, addressed originally to the 
Editor of the Hartford Times. 



SUBJECT STATED. FIRST LETTER. 

About eighteen months ago, I wrote and delivered a 
discourse on "the human mind considered as a motive 
power ! " — treating of the past and prospective achieve- 
ments of human Intelligence in the domain of the physi- 
cal world ; and was then impressed, without understanding 
the full import of the statement, or the remotest possi- 
bility of its ultimate realization by man, to employ the 
following apparently extravagant language : 

" The mission of Mind, as a motive power, is to subdue 
and adorn the Soil ; exterminate all unwholesome devel- 
opments in the vegetable and animal worlds ; and to 
transform extensive plains, now non-productive and use- 
less, into gardens of health and comfort. By the magic 
of mind, rough places will be made smooth, the crooked 
straight, the wilderness to blossom as the rose ; and the 
cold, damp, pestilential winds which now sweep over the 
earth — spreading consumption and negative diseases in 
every direction — will ultimately be changed into a heal- 
ing influence, calm as the evening zephyr breathing over 
the gardenized fields and vineyards of the land, fraught 
with sweet perfumes. * # * Man will yet learn how 
to create and preserve an equilibrium between earth and 
atmosphere. The hot deserts of Arabia, now mere seas 
of sand and desolation, will yet appear, under the well- 



27 



directed mechanical treatment and scientific skill of man, 
as beautiful, productive, and habitable as the undulating 
valleys of Italy. He will be enabled to instigate, control 
and direct the fall of rain over such portions of land as 
need moisture — elevating, thus, much parsimonious soil 
to the height of richness and abundance, and to the 
bringing forth of pure productions. He will spread civ- 
ilization over the dominion of the heathen. He will 
convert the darkest forests into gardens of beauty ; the 
disagreeable vegetables and animal forms, which now 
disfigure the face of nature, will be overcome and ban- 
ished ; and the lion and the lamb will lie down together 
in peace. The lightning that now performs the duties of 
a courier, and which sometimes still ventures to go off 
on private excursions, declaring itself at times inde- 
pendent of man's pursuit and power, will yet be the 
means, the chief agent (under man's direction), of con- 
ducting away from unhealthy localities the pestilential 
miasm which generates disease and debility among man- 
kind. And meanwhile, in its concentric gyrations through 
the broad tracery of conductors in the air, the lightning 
will emit the most sweet seolian music which the mind 
can possibly imagine." 

This statement or prophecy, or whatever else you 
desire to term it, may be found on page 19 of the Seer, 
vol. III. Harmonia. 

I am sensible of the fact, Mr. Editor, that the fore- 
going description of the future accomplishments of Mind 
in the fields of matter and among the elements of nature, 
will appear to a certain class of minds as imaginative 
and hyperbolical in the extreme. The man of superfi- 
cial information, derived mainly from newspaper para- 
graphs and elementary books on natural philosophy, 



28 



will exclaim, " What nonsense to suppose that insignifi- 
cant man can so manage the laws of nature as to cause 
rain to fall, or prevent it from descending, just as he 
pleases!" 

Another, less informed, with a hereditary confidence 
in the exclusive safety and sanctity of the " good old 
days of Adam and Eve," when trees grew just as the 
Lord had ordained, when the lightnings were free from 
the audacious interpositions of Dr. Franklin, and the 
rain descended through the will of God and the instru- 
mentality of prayer, in view of the present proposition 
exclaims : ' ' What a blasphemous attempt to interfere 
with the ways of Providence ! How can the rain fall 
' upon the just and unjust,' if science be allowed, in the 
hands of wicked men, to control the phenomena of the 
atmosphere?" A person who could imagine an objec- 
tion of this sort, certainly must be closely related to 
that sectarian party which opposed the introduction of 
Vaccination as a preventive or palliative of the terrible 
symptoms and consequences of Small Pox — opposed it 
on the ground of conscientiousness and veneration ; 
that it was an attempt to escape the punishments, or 
mitigate the sufferings, which the Lord, in his Provi- 
dence and jurisdiction, saw proper to inflict upon the 
children of men ! 

Then again, there are persons, who, having large hope 
and great faith in the developments of the future, yet 
conscious of many disappointments proceeding from 
sources where they anticipated certain success, will 
exclaim: " We much desire such a wedding between the 
earth and air, but we fear the project will prove imprac- 
ticable, and altogether too good to be true !" 

But for the present, Mr. Editor, I propose to notice 



29 

no further the objections which may arise in certain 
minds, and proceed to lay before your readers the ad- 
ditional information I have received, by recent interior 
investigation, concerning the possibility and practicabil- 
ity of controlling the causes of Eain, and modifying 
storms, by an application of scientific principles already 
well ascertained. 

Analytical research and synthetic knowledge, super- 
seding the present almost universal ignorance of geog- 
raphy, meteorology, and the subtiler sciences, develop 
means for the melioration of the human condition, and 
create desires for better things obtainable. Starvation, 
drudgery, servitude, want, and the fear of want and 
disease, will become ridiculous evils and intolerable acci- 
dents of existence. There is now a stock of practical 
scientific knowledge accumulated, the fruit of many 
ages, much of which remains unapplied, but which, in 
this age of newspapers, no longer can be withheld from 
the nations of the earth. The ideas of dark ages are 
superseded now by intuition and knowledge based on 
experiences. And now, since man has already accom- 
plished so much among the elements of nature, it is no 
longer safe to say, out and out, that anything is impossi- 
ble which appears contrary to the so-called established 
theories of theologians or scientific men. And as Sir 
Isaac Newton received his first suggestion, perhaps les- 
son, on gravitational science from a humble source, so it 
is possible that modern savans may obtain light on some 
questions of philosophy from authorities not labelled 
" orthodox,' ' or regarded as worthy of candid and seri- 
ous attention. But I must away to the subject of my 
present impressions. 

Man is the Master of the Globe. From hence we 
3* 



30 

affirm that he is also the master of its so-called impon- 
derable fluids, of its atmospheric phenomena, and master 
of all the diversified and multitudinous effects growing 
out of them. Humboldt, Hutton and others, have re- 
marked upon the modifying influence exerted upon 
seasons, temperatures and climates, by hills, trees and 
mountains, water, inhabitants, and the cultivation of 
the soil. "How can man," says a writer, "who pre- 
tends to disarm the thunder- cloud by means of a few 
metallic points fixed to his houses, refuse to admit the 
influence exerted upon tempests by the myriad points 
offered by the forests with which he covers his moun- 
tains and hills?" An eastern philosopher says: — 
"Persistence in a unitary cultivation of the globe will 
result in a regulation of the seasons, so as that they 
shall always be most favorable for vegetation and the 
development of human happiness." He even goes far- 
ther, and thinks that by perseverance in this method, 
" man will ultimately succeed in reducing the ices which 
defend the polar regions, and conquer those extreme 
parts of his legitimate domain, inasmuch as the Deity 
could not have created them for the single and cruel 
purpose of causing disasters and shipwrecks." So you 
will observe, Mr. Editor, that I am not alone in the 
faith that man may control the circulations and phe- 
nomena of the air. 

An ignorant villager who considers his native place 
the centre of creation, and a fair illustration of all the 
countries of the world, having never reflected upon 
the causes of rain, or upon the laws of nature which 
regulate temperature, the seasons, and vegetation, will 
not be apt to believe anything in the practicability of a 
plan apparently so stupendous. But the mind of gen- 



31 

eral information knows that we have but to examine the 
elevation of a country, its locality, its latitude, its geol- 
ogy and extent, in strict reference to the level of the 
ocean (the deepest surface on the globe), in order to 
obtain a full knowledge of the climate of that country, 
and of what kind of vegetation and animal life it is 
capable of yielding for the use of man. It has been 
ascertained and clearly enough estimated, by Alexander 
Humboldt, that one acre of land in the tropical climate 
may be made to yield as much as fifty acres in any part 
of Europe. Of course all this is more or less connected 
with the phenomena of the atmosphere. The countries 
of Peru, which extend along the western declivities of 
the Cordilleras, are all the year teeming with a luxu- 
riant vegetation of many varieties. Why is this ? 
Because the Sun, and the Earth's own electricities there, 
prevent the descent of heavy rains, and even the appear- 
ance of clouds, but cause instead the falling of dews over 
the extensive fields. And I think that Art, which is but 
Nature, can produce similar results in all climates and 
countries of the world. At least, so am I, at this 
present moment, impressed to affirm openly. 

Science, marching slowly but surely onward, from 
observation to observation, from analysis to synthesis, 
has already discerned certain fragments of these great 
possible things, and will doubtless do so more perfectly 
hereafter. But all that science can now do, or all that 
the sponsors of science can now say, is, that all efforts 
to control climate must prove non-availing, since the 
constitution of the atmosphere is affected, its equilibrium 
destroyed, evaporation takes place, and rain descends, 
principally from causes exterior to the earth and to its 
magnetic currents. 



32 

Very well ; this I understand. The celestial bodies, 
chiefly the Sun and Moon, extemporize an attraction 
which affects our atmosphere periodically, with different 
degrees of intensity, according to the relative position 
of the Earth to them. Furthermore I understand, that 
among those exterior causes may very properly be noticed 
the revolution of the Earth upon its axis. From this 
cause we may look for an adequate explanation of the 
so called " trade-winds,' ' and similar currents of atmos- 
phere. Of course, the celestial bodies, the Sun and 
Moon especially, conspire to produce upon Earth these 
phenomena. The equilibriums of our atmosphere are, 
by these general causes, frequently disturbed — giving 
rise to winds, tempests, hurricanes, storms of rain, &c, 
causing often great calamities to befall man from an 
excess of water and wind, in some localities and seasons, 
while, in others, the people and flocks and vegetation are 
suffering from an absence or deficiency of the same iden- 
tical elements. 

Now, Mr. Editor, it seems to me that the equal wel- 
fare and proper development of humanity require a 
little closer approach to a kind of republicanism or 
" democracy " among the elements and electro-mag- 
netic circulations of the upper air ! How seems it to 
you ? 

Do I hear you reply, that " Divine wisdom has made 
these things as perfect as they can possibly be ! " I 
answer "agreed," considering that Man is lord of crea- 
tion, of the soil, of the animal kingdom, &c. But let 
me ask — Did the Deity do anything for man, which 
man can, by social progress and intellectual development, 
accomplish for himself ? Far from it. Man is all activ- 
ity ; and he has a world to act upon ! By acting upon 



33 

it in a systematic, scientific and unitary manner, he will, 
if he learns to act in perfect harmony with the immuta- 
ble laws of nature, prevent all excesses either in wind or 
water — prevent all irregularities in the atmosphere, all 
perturbations in the electro-magnetic currents of the 
globe, all sudden changes of temperature — hence, all 
pestilences, hurricanes, chronic or fever diseases, and 
most of all the calamities to which mankind is now sub- 
jected, both on sea and land. 

Those things which man is not organized to do for 
himself — please observe, Mr. Editor — are all accom- 
plished with unexceptionable particularity and rectitude 
prior to his existence ; while those things which he can 
do are left apparently unfinished and every way incom- 
plete. For instance : man cannot make or develop plan- 
ets; hence they are made for him. But houses and 
ships, which he can make, are consequently left for him 
to construct. Man could not have arranged the different 
orbs of heaven in their positions, nor given to them their 
definite proportions of number and measure,, nor the 
beautifully harmonious motions which they possess and 
exhibit ; hence, these things were all perfectly unfolded 
before man breathed the breath of life. 

But observe : while everything in the earth and in the 
heavens is characterized by a regularity of movement and 
harmony of condition, there are other things which ap- 
pear (as they are), unfinished and susceptible to immense 
improvements, namely, man, the lower kingdoms, the 
surface of the earth, and the atmosphere which envelops 
it. This is the lesson I learn from the contemplation of 
these things, and my conclusions derived therefrom are, 
as a matter of logical necessity, apparent to every mind 
that thinks from cause to effect. As you will perceive, 



34 

it is my impression that social inequalities, unwholesome 
plants and brutes, geological irregularities, and the per- 
turbations now so prevalent in the atmospheres of differ- 
ent localities and countries, are each and all to be over- 
come and brought within the control of that' intelligence 
which is but just being harmoniously unfolded from the 
brain of man. And as soon as an electro-magnetic equi- 
librium can be brought about in the air, which I conceive 
to be artificially practicable in two ways, then will man 
penetrate the mountains of ice now encircling the north 
pole, remove the icy zones from the Arctic regions, melt 
away the obstructions now preventing navigation in the 
seas and straits of those latitudes, extend rays of warmth 
over countries now cold and deserted ; and thus, those 
waters, and islands, and territories, which are geograph- 
ically so favorably situated for the universal interests of 
mankind in the polar regions, — "the north-west pas- 
sage," now sought, but not found — (all of which is now 
useless to him solely from atmospheric causes), will be 
rendered the most attractive portions of the human 
domain. 

" These are very hopeful and utopian speculations, " 
you remark. "I see no plan by which all this, or any 
portion of it, can be realized." 

Neither do I as yet. But this I know, that when I 
begun the writing of this letter I had a strong, clear, 
interior " impression" that certain specifications, &c, of 
bringing much of these productions about, would be given 
to me as I proceeded with my writing. And in the con- 
fidence thereof I rest assured, because I have never had 
sufficient reason to doubt. The object of this letter is, 
to state the proposition, remove a few whimsical objec- 
tions which might arise, and present certain advantages 



35 

to mankind which such an achievement "among the 
clouds" would certainty secure. It is to be hoped that 
scientific men will bestow some portion of their intelli- 
gence upon the question of controlling the formation and 
fall of rain, and institute certain miniature tests and ex- 
periments in order to demonstrate the truth or fallacy of 
the plan hereafter to be developed. 

In the mean time, Mr. Editor, until something more 
comes to me concerning this subject, which, when it comes, 
I will hasten to write and send you, I have the pleasure 
of remaining, Yours for Humanity. 



POPULAR THEORIES EXAMINED. — SECOND LETTER. 



In accordance with the proinise made at the conclu- 
sion of the preceding communication, I again per force of 
the will-power compose myself, even to the induction of 
the interior condition whence proceed my impressions of 
Nature, — and these I now send to you without reserva- 
tion. 

There is a general repugnance to the contemplation of 
scientific themes, — especially to a close study of dry 
physical facts and the causes of common phenomena, — 
because doubtless they are so elaborately presented by 
certain scholars, with an overwhelming array of hard 
words exhumed from Hebrew, Greek, and Latin germs ; 
nevertheless, it seems to me that I shall neither be tedious 
nor " dry," because it will be remembered that my sub- 
ject is Rain, and my impressions seldom permit me to 
conceal thought beneath the imposing livery which ordi- 
narily adorns the mind of a Cambridge student. 



36 

Whether distributed throughout the air, or flowing over 
the earth, Water is essential to the existence and welfare 
of the animal creation. It gives diversity to the mag- 
nificent scenery of the globe. That order and harmony 
which is everywhere so conspicuously manifested to the 
investigating mind, are inseparably connected with the 
diversified operations of water. The gushing fountain, 
the mountain torrent, the quiet lake, the babbling stream, 
the immersion of all currents into the ocean, the ascen- 
sion of its dissolving elements into the invisible air, from 
whence by certain electrical conditions it descends again 
in varied forms to moisten, enrich and fertilize the soil 
— all constitute the most interesting mundane subject 
for investigation of the true lover of wisdom. Water in 
nature never appears free from impurities. It invariably 
contains gaseous sand, clay, or saline matters, partially 
derived from the atmosphere through which it falls to 
earth, and partially from the subterranean springs whence 
it originates and flows upward and over the surface of the 
lowest land. The constitution of water is well enough 
understood. But quite certain am I that future chemis- 
try will discover a more intimate relation between the 
dual constituents of water and what is now termed 
''Electricity." This agent, although its character has 
been much impaired and traduced of late — being de- 
nounced as the cause of every new " manifestation' ' 
regarded as inexplicable — will yet be found to form the 
basis of both water and atmosphere. 

Chemists are already aware that electricity is the only 
agent by which both elements, composing water, can be 
simultaneously evolved and held in free conditions. It 
is ascertained that one part of water, hydrogen, may be 
by itself elicited in various ways — as, for instance, by 



37 

the action of sulphuric acid upon zinc, causing it to de- 
compose and combine with the oxygen in the water, thus 
forming a sulphate of oxide of zinc, which of necessity- 
sets the hydrogen at liberty. But here let it be borne in 
mind that " Electricity " is only capable of eliciting the 
constituents of water in a pure and simultaneous condi- 
tion. This fact has an important bearing upon the the- 
ory of producing and controlling rain. 

Next, as to the atmosphere. Essentially considered, 
the invisible envelopment of our globe has been long rep- 
resented as consisting of a large quantity of Nitrogen, 
less of Oxygen, a minute trace of carbonic acid, azote, 
and an irregular quantity of aqueous or w T atery vapor. 
It is a curious fact, that in the air, water is found to be 
omnipresent or coextensive with it, and always in a state 
of invisible vapor ; and both elements, although not 
" simple " as the ancients taught, but compound and dif- 
ferent in constitution, are yet identical in the exhibition 
of their phenomena when heated or reduced in tempera- 
ture. Water and air, when elevated in temperature (or 
heated) are alike changed as to their density, and become 
lighter by expansion. Cold air and cold water have a 
superior density, and therefore occupy lower strata in 
the scale of elements. Boiling water will float upon the 
surface beneath ; and so, heated air, in consequence of 
being lighter, can no more descend to the cold below, 
but ascends and becomes an attractive medium or " mag- 
net" to the parties composing the stratum beneath. This 
idea of attenuated air or water forming a magnet in rela- 
tion to colder and lower bodies of the same elements, is 
an idea, Mr. Editor, which I would have lodged firmly 
in the mind. It has something to do, it seems to me, in 
4 



38 

• 

bringing about the phenomena, evaporation or condensa- 
tion, and rain — which we desire to comprehend. 

The experimental evidence that water is always dif- 
fused throughout the air, as an invisible vapor, is ob- 
tained in many ways. It is of common occurrence, that 
a decanter or pitcher filled with cold water, and placed 
upon a table in a warm room, will, in the lapse of ten 
minutes, become literally covered with clew, or rain, and 
large drops will bedim its surface. Has the water 
nitrated through the vessel ? No. "Whence then does 
the dew proceed ? Ah ! here we have it ; the cause of 
rain, at least in this case, is simple ! The temperature 
of the water in the vessel is colder than the temperature 
of the water invisibly subsisting in the air ; consequently 
the invisible vapor, surrounding the decanter, is rapidly 
cooled and condensed (reduced in temperature and in 
density), and therefore it rains upon the surface of the 
vessel. Now reduce the temperature still more, and you 
have frost ; still more, and snow appears ; and the final 
reduction of the temperature brings the ice, which is water 
in its lowest state of condensation or solidity. 

These are familiar occurrences, and scarcely excite a 
single thought ; but they are none the less essential, as 
data, from which to develop the practicability of our 
leading proposition. 

Furthermore, it is worthy of attention in this connec- 
tion, that water is a negative element when compared to 
the atmosphere. The air .is positive to water, and is 
capable of decomposing and dissolving its constituents 
under certain conditions. By the action of atmospheric 
magnetism (sometimes termed caloric), water is decom- 
posed. Its particles become separated or vaporized. 
And although water is more than eight hundred and fifty 



39 

times denser or heavier than air, still air endows it par- 
tially" with wings — empowering them to fly with " the 
celerity of thought" throughout the empire of nature, in 
some other form to bestow a good upon the organic king- 
dom of the soil. This fact is evidenced not only by the 
universal evaporation of water, but, more commonly, by 
the drying of a piece of cloth which has been saturated 
with water, and hung out in the heat of the sun. The 
water soon leaves, and the cloth is dry. This fact illus- 
trates the intimate relations subsisting between the water 
on the earth and the air which envelops it. And all this 
points to the turnpike or highway whereon constantly 
travel a class of terrestrial phenomena, which, as yet, 
the science of chemistry has only hinted at, but has not 
discovered. 

Having introduced a few familiar facts to your readers, 
Mr. Editor, with which doubtless the most of them are 
well acquainted, I now proceed more particularly to 
describe the philosophy of rain. 

The view commonly received is, that through the 
calorific action of the Sun, the atmosphere and the sur- 
face of the water become heated. The process of vap- 
orization thereby occurs, and the watery vapor is thus 
made constantly to ascend from the oceans and rivers of 
the globe. When the atmosphere becomes overcharged 
with this vapor, then sudden changes in its temperature 
cause the water to return to the earth in three different 
states of condensation ; namely, as rain, as snow, or as 
hail. 

It would seem from this, that cold in the clouds is 
necessary in order to condense the watery vapor of the 
air, and produce the deposition of dew or rain upon the 
earth. But this theory is unsettled by the fact, that the 



40 

heaviest rains are generally preceded by exceedingly 
sultry weather. Hence some philosophers have set out 
to account for it upon a different principle. 

The next theory propounded — if my impressions he 
correct — is : that two masses or volumes of air, thor- 
oughly saturated with moisture or aqueous vapor, and of 
different temperatures, will, when they approach and 
mix together, become overcharged with the moisture, and 
a part of it would of necessity be precipitated in the 
form of rain to the earth. This is measurably true. 
The commencement of rain is frequently attended with 
such a phenomenon; i. e., two unequally heated vol- 
umes of atmosphere being fused into one mass. But 
there are difficulties which this theory does not remove. 
First it implies that in case of the admixture of two un- 
equally heated portions of air, only the superabundant 
moisture in them would be liberated and dejected to the 
earth, while the unsuperfluous vapor would still remain in 
the clouds, all ready to pour out more rain on the least 
reduction of their temperatures. This is disproved by 
the fact, that dry and cool weather generally succeed the 
cessation of rain. It is also much impaired, as a theory, 
by the fact, that large bodies of water or of any liquid 
require much time in running together. The waters of 
the Amazon or of the Gulf Stream consume a long pe- 
riod in flowing into union with the constituents of the 
Atlantic ; and the same remark is applicable to all large 
bodies of fluid on the globe. The same principle obtains 
in the atmosphere, among the clouds, when two of im- 
mense size come into actual juxtaposition with each 
other, and are tending to intermixture. 

The distinguished Mr. Hutton has confined his atten- 
tion too exclusively to the immediate meteorologic phe- 



41 

nomena associated with the falling of rain ; he has over- 
looked the deeper and more subtle causes of showers and 
storms ; but, notwithstanding this, his philosophy is gen- 
erally received among many of the scientific as estab- 
lished by experiments and experience. Nevertheless, I 
am impressed to consider it as unsound ; not only for 
reasons already stated, but because heat is frequently the 
precursor and the concomitant, while comparative cold is 
almost invariably the successor, of a shower or storm of 
rain or snow. 

Having brought the subject to this point, indicating 
the difficulties which the commonly received theories of 
the cause of rain do not explain, I have nothing before 
me now but to detail my philosophy of this matter, and 
to see whether or not it is supported by reason and expe- 
rience. 

It is my impression — indeed, I may say I " see " it 
to be unqualifiedly the case — that all atmospheric and 
meteoric phenomena are wholly referable to the alter- 
nate action of electricity. The mineral storehouses of 
the interior of the globe are the sources whence this 
subtile terrestrial agent is derived. There are enor- 
mous laboratories — natural galvanic and electrical bat- 
teries — in the earth, which generate all the elements 
composing water and air. The force exhibited by vol- 
canoes is derived mainly from these inherent laborato- 
ries. In the Island of Panavia may be seen volcanic 
fires and elements, bursting up out of unseen sources, 
forcing their way through the water at a distance of 
nearly 500 feet. Every such eruption of internal fires 
is accompanied by the elimination of vast quantities of 
terrestrial electricity. 

Where think you, Mr. Editor, do these volumes of 
4* 



42 

electricity go ? My impression is, that they go to sup- 
port, vivify, and to refine, the various substances, ani- 
mate and inanimate, and to compose and replenish water 
and air, and all else, which diversify and adorn the 
empire of existence. Essentially, I find that electricity, 
galvanism, magnetism, and voltaism, are of one parent- 
age, being at base identical ; although, by undergoing 
the processes of disintegration, &c, the primary element 
(which is common electricity) becomes divided up into 
sympathy with surrounding substances, and so it becomes 
differently refined and differently disposed throughout 
nature. It was this fact which led some philosophers to 
suppose that there are two kinds of electricity — the 
resinous and vitreous. But Dr. Franklin was right 
when he affirmed the existence of but one kind of elec- 
tricity, existing in two different conditions — the positive 
and negative. 

You will remember that I have noticed the fact that 
it is electricity only which can decompose water so as 
simultaneously to liberate both oxygen and hydrogen in 
a state of complete purity. Also the other fact, that 
water, though eight hundred times heavier than air, is 
capable of uniting with it, as brother with brother, as 
they are — indeed, that water is coextensive with air; 
all of which goes to establish that both water and atmos- 
phere have one and the same paternity — namely, the 
inherent electricity of the globe, which, like the Sun, is 
one immense galvanic battery. 

Allow me to lodge in your mind another proposition : 
that positive electricity is magnetism, and magnetism is 
comparatively warm ; that negative electricity is unde- 
veloped magnetism, and is comparatively cold ; that 
these male and female forces are always everywhere 



43 

present ; and that they produce all the action and reac- 
tion, motion and development, in the heavens above, in 
the earth beneath, and in the waters under the earth. 

The male and female — or positive and negative — 
principles range, side by side, hand in hand, throughout 
the whole domain of being. These reciprocal forces 
underlie all the phenomena of existence. They circulate 
through the air ; between orb and orb ; through the life 
of trees ; between atom and atom; control all animal 
functions ; and are, in short, the fundamental laws of all 
existence. When you have comprehended these Male 
and Female Laws, in the fulness of their operation, you 
have then found the "Philosopher's Stone" — the sure 
key which will, in the master's hand, unlock every con- 
ceivable mystery in the world of science and philosophy. 
They are the inherent principles of the Universe. A 
productive unity ; the Alpha and Omega of all refine- 
ment, production, and generation ! In the different 
kingdoms of animated nature, these laws beget the 
external manifestation of the sexes, and are familiarly 
termed Male and Female. In chemistry, they are known 
as Positive and Negative. In mechanism, they are Cen- 
tripetal and Centrifugal. In the world of inorganic 
matter, so called, they are Attraction and Expansion. In 
the Sun, they are Light and Heat. In the Divine 
Being, they are Love and Wisdom. In the human mind, 
they are Passion and Reason. But enough has been said 
to impress the idea of an omniprevalence of unity and 
immutability in the Principles of Existence ; to which 
we must always look for an adequate explanation of any 
physical or' spiritual phenomena. 

" 0, this is all a mere speculation!" Nay, far from 
it, Mr. Editor. These are truths. By careful reflection, 



44 

you will see that these principles open a new door to the 
cultivation of the several sciences. Truth is of univer- 
sal application. Parts of creation are but links in a 
grand series of corresponding links ; which, taken 
altogether comprehensively, constitutes the chain of 
cause and effect that binds in harmony the Infinite Uni- 
verse. Go forth ; and leave all narrow thought ! Broad, 
free, magnificent generalizations will do you good ! Our 
scientific men are full of " points, " and plethoric with 
fragmentary "demonstrations;" (not spiritual) they are 
vastly too much engaged in isolated inspections and mi- 
croscopic analyzations ; and so they see not the great 
general principles which sustain the broad realms of 
existence, physical and spiritual. 

We are told by the Primitive History (the Bible) that 
all things as they came forth from the hand of the Cre- 
ator were pronounced "good." Still, we see low poison- 
ous plants ; destructive and venomous creatures ; large 
territories of country unfit for the habitation of man ; 
unfortunate conflicts between the sun, the seasons, and 
the soil — whole fields of vegetation and scores of ships 
destroyed by sudden hurricanes, or by protracted storms 
at the wrong time, &c; and mankind, too, all disunited 
and diseased ! How is this to be explained ? Are these 
things "good" and right? Has man abused the free- 
dom of the will, and perverted the animal kingdom, and 
the earth, the water, and the atmosphere ? We are told, 
by certain rather popular authorities, that when Human- 
ity fell, 

" Earth, through all her parts, gave signs of woe." 

Are we, then, to await the interposition of supernatu- 
ral power before the defective conditions can be re- 



45 

moved ? This is no theologic discussion, Mr. Editor, but 
an appeal to your Intelligence in behalf of a «more 
rational way to explain certain discords, and how they 
may be harmonized with the interests of humanity. And 
it is, as before said, reasonable to suppose that every- 
thing is "good" when all things are considered by a 
law of adaptation. For instance : that every imperfect 
or unfinished piece of creation is no result of a per- 
verted free will, but is left in the order of Providence 
for Man to complete by his own skill and experience. 
And one unfinished piece is the atmosphere. So you can 
see, with me, the fields adapted for the manifestation of 
human discovery and control. 

" But where is your philosophy of rain ?" Be patient 
with me, Mr. Editor; it will .surely come, as I proceed 
with my writing. This letter contains enough suggest- 
ive matter for present reflection. And you may rest 
assured, that when more conies to me, the world shall 
receive it. Hoping that we shall at last be able to con- 
trol rain, to some extent, and the temperature of the 
air, I remain Yours for Humanity. 



. PHILOSOPHY OF RAIN. — THIRD LETTER. 

An enlargement of our scientific knowledge, and a far 
more thorough and consistent understanding of the prin- 
ciples of correspondence or analogy, will unlock the 
deep or dark sayings of ancient prophets. They seemed 
to have seen, prospectively, unfolded a "new heaven 
and a new earth" out of the materials already in exist- 
ence. 



46 

In order to unravel the stupendous mysteries which 
hang over our social and spiritual destiny, theologians 
have puzzled their brains in constructing consistent com- 
mentaries, and these, in their turn, have puzzled and 
belittled the intellectual vision of all who have made 
them a subject of confiding and protracted inquiry. The 
common use, in primeval times, of symbolical or figura- 
tive language, so replete with ambiguities and with 
expressions so easily construed into diverse meanings — 
now furnishes the analytic student with the power always 
to make the ancient sayings correspond and harmonize 
with his ruling thought or established creed. 

But after all, Mr. Editor, suppose all the learned 
sermons and commentaries should at last turn out, like 
Jonah's prophecy to Nineveh, to be wholly untruthful : 
and suppose the " new heaven and new earth" should 
not be brought about " Spiritually, " as some believe, 
nor by consuming with fire the present cosmic al struc- 
ture, as others believe ; but suppose, on the contrary, 
the earth and the atmosphere should be transformed 
and thoroughly rectified by a practical application of 
physical, mechanical and magnetic principles — then let 
me ask, do you think that the authors of those sermons 
and commentaries would, like the same Jonah, "let 
their angry passions rise/' and remonstrate with the 
Lord for changing his mind and not fulfilling their dog- 
matic sayings ? Or, would they hail with delight the 
immediate and progressive relief which would thereby 
be given to the industrial classes all over the world ? 
It is well enough understood, that agricultural success 
or failure depends upon the seasons, climate, moisture, 
soil, and industry — just as these elements are benefi- 
cially harmonized or unfortunately disunited. And it 



47 

would seem that the prophetic teachings of the ancients 
— their mythology and their theology alike — foreshadow 
something analogous to the statement contained in my 
first letter. Allow me to quote, as it comes to me, a 
few examples of apparent prefiguration : 

" The abundance of the sea shall be converted unto 
thee. There shall be upon every high mountain, and 
upon every high hill, rivers and streams of water. 
Blessed are ye that sow beside the waters — that send 
forth thither the feet of the ox and ass. There the 
glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and 
streams ; wherein shall go no galleys with oars, neither 
shall gallant ships pass thereby. For in the wilderness 
shall waters break out, and streams also in the desert. 
And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the 
thirsty land springs of water ! I will open rivers in 
high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. 
I will make the wilderness a pool of water ; and the 
dry lands springs of water. I will even make a way in 
the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to 
my people. And all the rivers of Juclah shall flow with 
waters, and a fountain shall come forth and water the 
valley of Shittam. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, 
and water springs into dry ground. And there he 
maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a 
city for habitation, and sow the fields, and plant vine- 
yards, which may yield fruits of increase." 

In these expressions — which are most manifestly the 
simple narratives of prophetic convictions individually 
entertained — I can see quite clearly that the skill of 
man will do for the earth, for water, and air, precisely 
what the ancients, in the absence of all knowledge of 
various scientific possibilities, supposed was only possi- 



48 

ble to the Supreme Being. But I have quoted enough 
for the present. For my impressions now lead to a 
continuation of the philosophy of rain, as commenced 
in the previous communication. 

As already affirmed, the male and female forces are 
coextensive with all ponderable and imponderable mat- 
ter. They operate within and upon the largest and 
smallest structures with the same geometrical precision. 
And here let me again say, that they were the founda- 
tions upon which the eternal universe of matter was 
laid ; the formation of the sidereal heavens ; the devel- 
opment of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms ; 
the organization and perpetuation of man. These du- 
odynamical principles are especially operative between 
earth and water, between cloud and cloud, and between 
them and the earth again. The electric fluid travels 
so amazingly rapid, it is almost impossible to calculate 
all the positive and negative relations among the various 
substances developed by it, even in a flight of a single 
league. This moment these relations subsist between 
two clouds ; the next moment finds these clouds in posi- 
tive relation to some point of earth ; next the earth is 
in negative relation to a mass of aqueous vapor in the 
clouds. And so these duodynamic relations are inces- 
santly changing places, giving rise to the various 
alterations of temperature, to thunder and lightning, to 
rain storms, to the descent of gentle showers, to the 
rushing destructive tornado, and to every other phe- 
nomenon of all seasons and countries on the globe. In 
this connection, I will state another immutable law char- 
acterizing the operation of these forces ; and which is 
without variableness in its relation to them. It is 
this : 



49 

Positive force, in fluid or elastic bodies, always attracts 
and contracts ; while the negative force invariably repels 
and expands the same fluids and bodies. For instance, 
the human pulse corresponds with exact precision to these 
motions ; because every attraction is succeeded by a con- 
traction in the veins — every repulsion by an expansion 
in the appropriate arteries. The recently discovered sci- 
entific process of gilding metals, &c.,by the action of 
these reciprocal forces, in solutions of silver and gold, is 
another illustration. Laroche, an experimentalist and 
physician of St. Petersburgh, assisted by Dr. Crusell, 
produced a very fine illustration of the action of these 
forces upon the atoms circulating in the fluids of the 
body. They applied the positive (i. e., the attractive 
and contractive pow T er or) force to the eye, and directly 
formed miniature " cataracts ; " and what is still more 
demonstrative, they then applied the negative (i. e., the 
repulsive and expansive force or) power, and dispelled the 
trouble from the eye in ten minutes. The same law T is 
everywhere present and equally operating in nature. 

Now " stand from under," Mr. Editor, for I am about 
to give you a slxower — rather, to show just how that 
result is produced from the clouds. 

First remember that the atmosphere, like the crust of 
the earth, is stratified — has different layers of air and 
temperature — and looks like the successive peels of an 
onion ! It has several different currents also ; some go- 
ing from the south to the north ; others from west to 
east ; and still others, above these, going in exact oppo- 
site directions. All this, I am quite sure, will be recog- 
nized by future science. 

These diverse aerial strata and electro-magnetic circu- 
lations are produced — First, by the resistance or friction 
5 



50 

of the air against the surface of the earth, occasioned 
by the rapidity with which it turns upon its axis. Second, 
by the evaporation of water, and by the ascension of ter- 
restrial electricity, from all wet places. And Third, by 
the calorific or magnetic action of the sun upon the 
whole organism, and more especially upon the African 
continent. 

The upper air is composed of electricity in different 
degrees of refinement and states of activity. And, in 
order to provide for its more complete accumulation and 
development, the lowest stratum of air — that which we 
inhale— is generally rectified from humidity (or moist- 
ure) and so constitutes a kind of non-conducting pedestal 
for the rest of the air to repose upon. This lower stratum 
is what electricians term an " Insulator.' ' This, in clear 
and dry weather, detaches the electricity of the upper 
regions from the earth, and cuts off all communication 
between them. Hence we may sometimes look up, in 
this continent, day after day, and see the clouds floating 
over our heads, but receive none of their contents on the 
earth. 

Chemical experiments have shown that when the sur- 
face of water is cooled, the particles composing it are 
negative ; while the vapor of water is always positive. 
If vapor be reduced in temperature and condensed, then 
positive electricity (i. e., magnetism) is liberated. And 
so vice versa :' the negative force remains behind when 
water is permitted to evaporate into the formation of 
clouds. 

We continually breathe the rectified air, or that stra- 
tum which constitutes the Insulator, detaching the upper 
strata from any immediate communication with either 
our lungs or the earth. This stratum in our latitude is 



51 

comparatively free from water and from every descrip- 
tion of humidity, which, as in the tropical countries, con- 
ducts the magnetism of the earth to the clouds, and their 
electricity to the earth, and in some localities produces 
almost continual fogs or mists, or protracted torrents of 
rain. 

The lower portions or surface of clouds, as I before 
remarked, are " magnetic' ' in their action upon the 
ocean and upon all wet places. They perpetually draw 
certain invisible vapors from the earth. Still, these 
clouds are in positive and negative unison with their own 
contents and surfaces, and remain suspended, until that 
isolated union is broken up by some point of earth or 
volume of electricity arising from it. 

The upper portions of clouds are cold and electrical ; 
the under surfaces are warm and magnetic. According 
to my vision, the highest clouds, like the highest mount- 
ains, are capped and chilled with snow. This is so even 
in warm climates. The under surfaces, meanwhile, being 
magnetic and positive, attract aqueous vapors from the 
earth, and contract them into a more compact union with 
the nebulous elements. But this attraction of the atoms 
of the water cannot occur, unless the insulator in a meas- 
ure becomes saturated with moisture, and hence no longer 
a barrier and support, but has become an excellent con- 
ducting medium between the earth and the clouds. On 
the other hand, if the insulating or non-conducting strati- 
fication of air (which we breathe) be not disturbed by a 
near approach to the earth of the upper stratum, or by 
the moisture from the ground ascending into it ; then it 
would be impossible to obtain rain from the heavens, even 
though the clouds be surcharged with vapor, and weigh 



52 

many millions of tons more than the crystalline barrier 
beneath. 

So strange, and yet so simple, is the philosophy of 
rain or droughts ! For I think you can now understand 
that a very little moisture converts the insulator into a 
conductor for the ascension of invisible vapor from the 
earth ; that a general humidity of the lower stratum is 
the sign of rain in our climate ; a dryness of it indicates 
a complete insulation of the clouds ; and that, should 
this dryness continue for any length of time, as in sultry 
weather, the clouds will be' overcharged, and, attracted 
by some point of land, pour out their contents in certain 
localities with thunder and lightning, and do as much 
damage to harvest by their isolation, abundance and vio- 
lence, as was before done by the absence of moisture and 
of gentle showers upon the teeming fields and green 
pastures. 

There ! you now have my — or rather Nature's — 
philosophy of the formation and fall of rain. And now, 
as it is stated, I will invite you to take a private excur- 
sion with me throughout the different countries, and com- 
pare the meteoric facts of the globe with the laws laid 
down in this letter. Let us now proceed. 

You see what this theory absolutely requires, do you 
not ? It requires that water should remain dissolved in 
fine vapors, in the form of clouds, above the lower stra- 
tum of atmosphere, until the insulation be broken by 
some electrical changes between the earth and the nebu- 
lous strata ; that then the temperature of the under sur- 
faces changing from a magnetic to a comparatively cold 
or electrical state, the vapor is rapidly condensed, and is 
repelled, with electricity, to the earth in the liquid or 



53 

congealed form, according to the prevalence of the neg- 
ative (or electric) medium in the air at the time. 

Let us now examine mountainous districts, with strict 
reference to this requirement. If our philosophy of rain 
be correct, then we shall find that lofty mountains, by 
penetrating the lower stratum, — the Insulator, — pre- 
vent the regular accumulation of vapor into clouds, and 
also the terrible storms of rain which occur in tropical 
latitudes, over extensive plains, after a long cc spell' ' of 
dry and sultry weather. Instead of "terrible storms" 
in high latitudes, we are to look for perpetual fogs, mists, 
and drizzling but not torrents of rain. If mountains, 
constantly penetrating and disturbing the otherwise non- 
conducting stratum nearest the earth, prevent the regu- 
lar formation of clouds and the occasional descension of 
rain, then, according to our theory, we must expect they 
should increase the amount of evaporation and the 
amount of moisture. It is well known that the most 
extensive and navigable rivers, instead of obtaining their 
waters from the lowlands and springs and valleys, on the 
contrary, take their rise from among the most extensive 
chains of hills and mountains. Baron Humboldt, whose 
mental structure compels him to individualize and sys- 
tematize all his observations of Nature, gives his testi- 
mony, that "an individual river, which takes its rise 
among the mountainous districts of South America, con- 
tributes more water to the ocean than all the rivers and 
streams to be found upon the continent of Africa." And 
if you will but examine the origin of the rivers of Africa, 
you will see that the principal ones on the continent flow 
down from the highlands and lofty elevations under the 
Equator. Examine, also, the rivers of California and 
of countries still more mountainous, and you will see 
5* • 



54 

satisfactory evidences that towering points of earth con- 
stantly disturb the insulating stratum, and give rise to 
much rain without violence, and to mists and dews con- 
tinually, even when the earth in those localities is not in 
need of it. 

Let us now look at extensive plains. If our philoso- 
phy be correct, then over level tracts of country the lower 
medium must become comparatively dry, — must become 
a complete insulator; and clouds, filled with positive and 
negative forces, must either float for a long time very 
high, or else not be seen for weeks together, in conse- 
quence of being more powerfully attracted to other por- 
tions of the globe. 

In illustration of this, examine the deserts of the 
earth. Whole years sometimes elapse without a shower. 
Storms of wind and sand are abundant. Sometimes a 
cloud is a meteoric curiosity ! The Arabian plains are 
provided by nature with no elevated points of land, — no 
lofty eminences ; and so, according to our philosophy of 
rain, the insulating medium is seldom broken, and the 
fertilizing showers seldom fall upon the level countries. 
Or, look at the now very interesting and golden Aus- 
tralia. This country, so attractive to the devotees of 
that extensively worshipped God, — Mammon, — des- 
tined to become the land of a new Eepublic, is still 
defective in its meteorological possessions. There are 
no discovered rivers sufficiently large or deep to encour- 
age the people to open internal navigation ; although, as 
the island becomes more known in this respect, there 
will be found many portions of rivers deep enough to 
float large ships and vessels adequate for commercial 
purposes. In some parts of this country the mountains 
are numerous and sufficiently high to disturb the upper 



55 

region of clouds, which then pour their surcharged con- 
tents into deep and wide gorges or ravines, but leave 
other portions of the country destitute of the requisite 
moisture. On portions of this continent you can see no 
high mountains, nothing to disturb the existence of elec- 
tricity in the almost invisible clouds, nothing to remove 
the insulation between the earth and them, except the 
absolute -withdrawal of the sun's heat when that luminary 
is at the farthest southern point ; and so, what is the 
fact in Australia ? Such localities are seldom visited by 
gentle and fertilizing rains. Its rivers are very low dur- 
ing eight months of the year, and some of them are too 
shallow for navigation. But these remarks are not ap- 
plicable to bodies of water with much extent of surface ; 
for tides and spray have much the same effect as prom- 
inences or lofty peaks of earth, in disturbing the insu- 
lating stratum, and producing clouds and the descent of 
fogs and mists. 

Look at the fogs of Newport, or examine the islands 
of the sea. The formation of rain clouds and the almost 
immediate precipitation of their moisture usually com- 
mence along the coasts and shores. Violent or disastrous 
storms of rain seldom visit Islands. The exceptions to 
this law are very few. Constant vaporizations and driz- 
zling rains characterize nearly all islands and irregular or 
ragged coasts. For illustration : examine the meteoro- 
logic phenomena of Cape Horn; observe the frequent 
rains on the rocky coasts of Norway ; the constant dis- 
turbance of the insulation and the quantities of showers 
in the Archipelago of Chronos ; and many other exam- 
ples may be had, showing how tides and spray, clashing 
against rough, rock-bound shores, beget a constant irreg- 



56 

ularity in the circulations of the electro -magnetic elements 
between the earth and the atmosphere. 

It should be borne in mind, meanwhile, that high 
mountains, when covered with trees and vegetation, are 
vastly better conductors than those elevations which are 
not so adorned. The trees, having many points, besides 
being such " cold water drinkers," are, in consequence 
thereof, excellent for conducting and moderating the 
processes between the clouds and the soil. 

The influence of mountains extends for many miles 
around. They perforate the insulator, and set the elec- 
tro-magnetic currents in motion ; these give immediate 
rise to aerial and terraqueous winds ; the electric fluid 
now darts from point to point, puts the surface of the 
earth in direct communication with the lower surfaces of 
the clouds, as zinc with copper plates in acid ; and so it 
is that mountains sometimes do not themselves receive as 
much rain as the plains and lowlands adjacent to them. 
The importance of this fact in regulating storms, showers, 
&c, will hereafter receive more application. 

This philosophy of storms receives additional confirma- 
tions from the meteorology of Mexico. In this country 
you see two quite different seasons ; not four, as we 
divide our year. They have an El Estio — a dry, mag- 
netic season ; and a La Estacion de les Argas — a sea- 
son of wind, fog, and chilling or negative rains. The 
country is also by the natives differently divided, into 
hot and cold districts, implying the preponderance in the 
former, the tierras calienta, of magnetism ; and in the 
latter, the tierras frias, of electricity. In these coun- 
tries you may see complete illustrations of the foregoing 
philosophy. Were it not for the fact that the table lands 
of Mexico are near enough to the sea-shore to obtain the 



57 



moisture gradually arising from the effect of the spray 
upon the insulator, the first stratum, they would yield but 
little vegetation and be unfit for agriculture. These va- 
porizations pass on by the "trade winds " during the El 
Estio or dry period, and form clouds near the tops of the 
mountains of the interior. In the mean time the table 
land is suffering more or less for the want of rain. In- 
deed, the agriculturist is often compelled to construct 
canals, and bring water from small streams to moisten the 
burning dust and over-heated vegetation. Irrigation, 
therefore, or bar oka, is resorted to on the plains, because 
the insulation is not enough disturbed which detaches the 
earth from all fecundating communications with the upper 
strata of the atmosphere. 

But now, Mr. Editor, I must cease to write, because 
my impressions cease to flow. It is to be hoped that 
neither you nor your readers will be impatient to see the 
conclusion of "the whole matter," because this result 
cannot be accomplished within the limits' allotted to this 
article. As the explanations are now completed, as I 
think they are, you may expect the " plan for producing 
and controlling rain " in my next. What that plan will 
be is no more known to my brain than it is to yours ; 
and so I confess that my curiosity to know "what's 
coming next " is not in the least allayed by the fact that 
my hand has traced the foregoing. But still I remain, 

Yours for Humanity. 



58 



THE ELECTRIC PLAN. — FOURTH, LETTER. 

With this communication I am impressed to terminate 
my correspondence. 

Doubtless, the pro and con of new propositions should 
always be considered, for there is no other way to arrive 
at rational conclusions. But if you are one of those pru- 
dential conservatives who have acquired an habitual prac- 
tice of doubting the practicability of every new proposi- 
tion, and who consequently take it upon themselves to 
denounce, deride and discourage, every conspicuous step 
toward bettering the conditions among men, then all I 
can say is, that if you have " patience " enough to 
wait an age, — that is, until the present generation of 
profound individuals have all gone to the Spirit-land, — 
you may then learn, from improved literary magazines 
and encyclopaedias of maturer erudition, concerning the 
utter simplicity and historical feasibility of every plan 
which I shall presently suggest. 

Do you suppose, Mr. Editor, that civilized men and 
women, who know that this world is not such a narrow, 
crowded place as unreasoning people believe, will con- 
tinue to exist in the depths of social injustice and servi- 
tude ? Will they continue to exist in dissatisfaction, 
working, as many of them do, day and night, to keep 
soul and body decently together, to give their children a 
respectable education, and to enable others to support 
expensive fashions and live on unwholesome luxuries ? 
Nay ; every well- organized, harmonial and rational indi- 
vidual in this city, as in all places of human habitation, 
has a reasonable desire for hours of recreation from labor 



59 

each day, in order to cultivate more of his being than 
merely the spinal column or the muscles of his right arm ; 
and that, too, without being perpetually haunted with 
the brow-wrinkling idea of not having enough to " pay 
his bills on Saturday night," or of not being able to 
"make both ends of the year meet" without various 
pecuniary embarrassments. Working constantly, merely 
to support the body, is unnatural and wrong ! And it is 
not much to be wondered at, that especially among the 
less enlightened and fortunately situated classes, recourse 
is had to the "fire-water" in order to induce instanta- 
neous sensations of "richness " and absence from one's 
fatigue and mental care ; while amongst others, a rough, 
high-handed rowdyism and intemperate proceedings come 
of a too constant confinement to some ridiculous study of 
dead languages or classics, to monotonous occupations, 
or to several kinds of unentertaining pursuits. Social 
pleasures, literary amusements, theatrical entertainments 
of an ethical nature, for such as have a taste for them ; 
musical representations by amateurs ; conversational 
soirees ; lectures, &c, upon the boundless resources of our 
common humanity, and upon topics calculated to increase 
popular knowledge of the means of developing the fac- 
ulties of the human mind, and to perpetuate the general 
happiness of the race altogether; — such, Mr. Editor, are 
the imperative demands of all well-organized men and 
women, to be engaged more or less in the after portion 
of every day ; and the world will live in discord and 
dissatisfaction until it is all accomplished. 

Has mankind arrived at the highest summit of civiliza- 
tion ? Far from it. He still treads the lowlands, and 
lives in the valleys of human attainment. He yearns and 
hopes for a better world ; because, forsooth, he imagines 



CO 

this nether sphere, though so full of evils and inequali- 
ties, to be as good now as it ever can become. Most 
piteous must hereafter appear the toil and sufferings, the 
endless fears of want and disease, which now distinguish 
the present social state ! Immersed in the multifarious 
concerns of his daily existence, how wholly disqualified 
is the laboring man for entering that " superior condi- 
tion ''which rolls up the curtain hanging between the 
present material circumstances and the " new heaven and 
the new earth" hereafter to be unrolled by the courage 
and skill of the human mind ! Poor miserable man is he 
who sees no paradise in the future for the earth's inhab- 
itants ! If he be a civilized European, and has a desire 
to live decently, comfortably, respectably, with a mod- 
erate desire for an enjoyment of the pleasures of exist- 
ence, he must toil incessantly for the payment of his rent, 
" for his victuals and clothes," and for the education and 
welfare of his children. And, having no faith in the 
remotest possibility of the ultimate harmony and perfect- 
ibility of this material, probationary world, he very 
gravely and solemnly sets out, through the medium of 
teachers and preachers, to cultivate some acquaintance 
with the better world to come. To secure a place there 
for himself and family, he pays a certain portion of his 
acquisition. Then, for too much wrong living, must pay 
the physician in money, as well as nature in pains and 
distress ; and for his rights he must pay the lawyer, or 
pay for an attempt to obtain them, whether he succeeds 
or not. But it is seen that these civilized evils " don't 
pay;" never did — never can. As a consequence of 
man's ignorance of his true nature and of the real sources 
of substantial happiness, there is a vast chain of mount- 
ainous evils ascending, like the Alps, in formidable array 



61 

before his onward march. But these mounts he must 
cross as Napoleon with his army ; then a " hereafter,' ' 
even in this life, of sunny climates, of delicious food 
growing in luxuriant abundance, and of various joys, 
now imagined as only possible to the Spirit-land (because 
the endless resources of this globe are yet unknown), 
will be the common inheritance of humanity. 

Faith in the great principle of progression, Mr. Editor, 

— faith in the inherent goodness and perfectibility of 
everything in earth, air, fire, and water ! This is the 
"faith which will move mountains " of unwholesome 
conditions, and rapidly develop the still slumbering po- 
tencies of sense and science. The artificial means for 
developing wealth and motive power ; the electro-mag- 
netic mechanism for rendering deserts of sand as inhab- 
itable and productive as the State of 'Ohio ; the agricul- 
tural inventions and electrical processes which will 
enable one man to accomplish as much as can now be 
done by a thousand ; all this, Mr. Editor, making the 
means of living abundant and cheap in every true sense, 
will usher in that terrestrial paradise — that " Kingdom 
of Heaven on Earth " — which the good always pray for, 
and which the down-trodden poor man as devoutly yearns 
to perceive and enjoy ! 

Let us now return to our plan. From the philosophy 
of electricity and magnetism, we learn that cold is caused 
by a superabundance of the former and heat by a pre- 
ponderation of the latter in the earth, in water, and in 
the atmosphere. We likewise learn that electricity alone 
can decompose water, leaving its constituents pure and 
free from other elements ; also, we learn that there is an 
insulating medium of air — the stratum nearest to earth 

— by which the clouds are suspended until perfectly 

6 



62 



formed and filled with vapor, and then caused, by a local 
disturbance of this insulation, to fall either as mist, as 
rain, as frost, as snow, or else as hail, as one or the other 
fluid preponderates at the time. Moreover, we learn 
that mountains and tree establish a permanent communi- 
cation through the insulator and the electric currents im- 
prisoned in the grand reservoir of the upper regions ; 
and so is produced quite frequent, but not violent, rains 
on the adjacent lands and valleys for several leagues 
around. 

You will remember, I think, the examples of this law 
taken from all portions of the earth. Within the terri- 
tory of Venezuela are many illustrations. In Camana, 
where very moderate mountains rise gradually behind 
from the coast, and no high points to disturb the insula- 
tion, with abundant magnetism in the lower stratum, the 
thermometer averaging from 80 to 82 degrees, there you 
find a warm, sunny sky, cloudless ten months of the 
year ; only two months being diversified by dews, sun- 
shine, and fertilizing rains. While along the southern 
part of the Orinoco, the reverse is the case ; ten months 
of rain, and two comparatively clear and sunny. Of 
course, the land is high, and covered with a dense forest. 
And if you find any exceptions to this Law, the explan- 
ation may be had by examining what tree, or rocky 
coast, or angular point of earth, there is which, at times, 
forms a temporary communication with the upper cur- 
rents, and thus produces the fall of rain. 

As Nature, from the operation of these visible causes, 
produces rain in every State in America, so may Art, 
which is but Nature manifested through Man, accom- 
plish the same results ; and the following plan is deeply 
impressed upon my mind as being at once simple, practi- 



63 

cable, and — considering the extensiveness of the good 
to be achieved thereby — quite easily put up, and inex- 
pensive. 

Upon some highly- elevated ground — say upon the 
brow of a considerable hill — construct an Electric Tower. 
The higher this tower ascends above the level of the 
ocean, the more absolute will be the determination of its 
influence upon the currents of the upper strata, and the 
more perfectly will it be capable of directing the wind 
and other aerial circulations. In the top of this tower 
should be constructed two machines of very large propor- 
tions ; one, an electric instrument, for the accumulation 
and development of this negative principle from the 
earth ; the other a galvanic battery, for the purpose of 
introducing magnetic currents and for decomposing 
water. This structure, with its electro-magnetic con- 
veniences, will answer to produce and control rain in an 
uneven country, say like the State of Connecticut, for a 
circle or district one hundred miles in diameter. But on 
a desert it would be influential upon a circle of not more 
than two hundred miles. In fact, when situated upon a 
plain surface, where water is scarce and heat is abun- 
dant most of the year, as in Arabia or in some parts of 
Africa, the tower should not be expected to act perma- 
nently upon more than thirty miles of air in every direc- 
tion from it. 

This circle should be connected with the Central power 
by means of wire conductors, on a plan precisely analo- 
gous to the poles and conductors of the magnetic Tele- 
graph. Of course, it is unnecessary to describe the 
methods of constructing an electrical apparatus ; for I 
mean nothing different from what is already known to 
scientific electricians. The dimensions of the cylindrical 



64 

glass or revolving portion of the instrument, let me re- 
mark, should not be less than 16 feet in diameter, and 
thick enough every way to resist all centrifugal tenden- 
cies, when making seventy-five revolutions a minute. 
This cylinder should be moved by a steam-engine of the 
required power ; and the heat for the boiler may be 
obtained by a galvanic decomposition of water. You 
will please bear in mind, Mr. Editor, that electricity is a^ 
negative principle, — is cold ; and, while it acts upon 
aerial vapor to condense its atoms into rain, frost, snow, 
&c, it, at the same moment, gives rise to certain cur- 
rents of "wind," so called, which have much to do in 
all cases in determining on what part of the globe the 
condensed vapor shall descend. It is this invariable 
meteoric law which we now propose to bring within the 
dominion of art. 

Let us suppose, for illustration, that the Electric 
Tower be constructed in the vicinity of this city, say on 
"Prospect Hill." From this point, radiating in all 
directions, are metallic conductors, for the purpose of 
fixing the operations of the electric currents, whether 
they be generated by the artificial mechanism, or by the 
inherent forces of the earth. We wish to put a harness 
upon this " detached " and hitherto unmanageable Sover- 
eign Agent among the elements. Very well : now we 
desire to make the rain fall upon New Haven, on the 
supposition that the weather has long been dry and sul- 
try, the garden vegetation is being destroyed, and the 
farmers of the environs much desire the benefit of rain. 
But there are no clouds formed near Hartford ! What i3 
to be done ? Do you not remember the proof that water, 
in a vaporized state, is omnipresent and coextensive with 
air ? Yes. What, then, is now required to develop 



65 

clouds ? Manifestly nothing more than to reduce the 
temperature of the atmosphere in several localities 
within the electrical circuit. And the moment you have 
formed a few fleecy clouds in this way, they will join 
you in the more rapid evaporation of aqueous matter 
from the earth, on the principle already explained. Well, 
how is this to be done ? By the accumulation and elimi- 
nation of electricity from the various " Depots." How 
are these to be made ? Within an area of 100 miles 
diameter, there may be as many special Receivers as the 
meteoric and agricultural conditions of the country 
require. Every farm and every city may be provided 
with one. This plan should be extensively adopted in 
some portions of Australia and elsewhere. These depots 
or receivers are nothing more than mammoth Leyden 
Jars, provided with perpendicular metallic conductors, 
fixed on the inside of the receiver, and extending into the 
air as far as possible. Ten such depots will cost about as 
much as a popular church. The upper end of this met- 
allic conductor should be provided with a platinum dis- 
charger with many angles — say a dodecahedron, or, at 
least, an octahedron, with the points and lines sharply 
defined, and presented, free from all contact with trees, 
&C.J to the surrounding atmosphere. 

When the receiver is filled with electricity to over- 
flowing, by the action of the ponderous machine in the 
Tower, then there is no escape for it except up the per- 
pendicular conductor, and into the eight or twelve sided 
discharger. From this the electric fluid will dart off in 
every direction, and, at night, the exhibition will be 
most beautiful, comprising all the meteoric phenomena 
of the Aurora Borealis and Northern Lights; because 
the philosophy is the same ! 
6* 



66 

The Northern Lights are produced by the discharge 
of the electric fluid from the north pole — darting into 
the atmosphere, reducing the temperature, and instantly 
frosting the invisible vapor, — and this gives the white 
and other reflections of that phenomenon. Now, all we 
propose to do, in warm climates, is, to produce rain, and 
not frost, by this simple principle. Or, where rain is 
too abundant, to so employ the galvanic power at cer- 
tain points of the compass as to elevate the temperature, 
perfect the atmospheric insulation, and send the clouds 
away to countries where the fall of rain is desirable. 
This is no speculation ; it is a common law of cause and 
effect. 

The clouds may be formed as already described. 
They now float overhead, light and fleecy, and far from 
that state of combination which makes the heavens 
look black and tempestuous. But the people of New- 
Haven first need a good " sprinkling," and so, pro bono 
publico, let us love our neighbor as ourself, and set the 
machinery in operation. How shall we commence ? 
First, break up from the Tower all communication with 
the "Kain Depots" at Springfield, East-Hartford, West- 
Hartford, Middletown, Norwich, &c, and establish a 
full positive and negative connection with the receiver 
at New-Haven ! Let the earth's electricity, thus ob- 
tained and concentrated, pour into the clouds at that 
point, and forthwith the insulation is broken ; the winds 
rush to that place, bearing the clouds upon their bosom ; 
the condensation of vapor is now rapid ; and the rain 
descending — making the communication more complete 
and permanent between the earth and the clouds — a 
shower or protracted storm may be obtained for several 
miles in every direction from the initial interruption. 



67 

In some countries where the lower stratum of air is 
very dry and free from moisture, the electric fluid should 
be made to reach as nearly as possible an elevation of 
600 feet above the level of the ocean. This may be 
done by building a circular framework jointing like a 
ship's mast, and supporting the metallic conductor by 
iron braces set in glass sockets ; for the insulation of this 
whole instrument must always be perfect, in order to 
have the entire charge of the receiver enter the air from 
the lofty angular platinum Knob. 

Electricity is not produced or created, but is merely 
obtained by friction of non-conductors ; that is to say, 
of two substances which are already so filled with the 
fluid that they neither receive nor impart as manifestly 
as substances not so impregnated. The inexhaustible 
source is the Earth. And there is no limit to the quan- 
tity of it which may be artificially obtained from this 
fountain. 

"But do you suppose to bottle up electricity in the 
Electric Tower?" Nay: not so, Mr. Editor; let me 
again describe. The area of three hundred miles (or 
one hundred in diameter) should not only be "fenced 
in " by conductors suspended by poles analogous to the 
magnetic telegraph method ; but there should also be 
stationed, wherever the inhabitants of cities or agricul- 
turists require rain to fall, special depots or prime con- 
ductors, connected, as before described, by means of 
metallic wires supported by poles, to the instrument 
in the Tower. This is all which is proposed to be 
done. 

I know that it is supposed by some modern philoso- 
phers that a receiver can accumulate the electric currents 
only on condition of being in the immediate vicinity of 



68 

the revolving cylinder. But this idea is clearly disproved 
by the fact that the earth itself eliminates this subtile 
agent constantly, while, at the same time, the natural 
prime conductor, or Leyden jar, is situated from 200 to 
6000 feet above the earth, and is, in fact, constituted 
of all the higher and rarer strata of the atmosphere ! 
The tops of trees and the summits of mountains are 
the conductors thither, as explained in the preceding 
letter. 

But the earth is a far more economical electrical 
machine than the one which I propose. It is more like 
what chemists term an elect?' ophorus ; and I can easily 
foresee what an improvement may be wrought upon the 
Plan herein stated. There are objections, however, to 
describing these economical methods now — also, the 
minute modus operandi of the scientific system here sug- 
gested ; because the people first require experience in 
the practical operations of the Rain Mechanism. They 
will only accept those suggestions as possible or prac- 
ticable, which stand recommended by past chemistry 
and the well-known demonstrations of electrical science. 
And so, throughout these letters, I have followed my 
impressions in paving, with already conceded scientific 
facts, the pathway to the philosophy of producing and 
controlling rain. 

The galvanic battery in the Tower is designed to 
accomplish a result which the other instrument will not 
do. It is supposed by most persons that the seasons, 
with their variable climates and phenomena, are inev- 
itable in the order of Providence. But, in fact, the sea- 
sons are not necessarily owing to the revolution and 
relation of the Earth to the Sun ; nor yet altogether 
upon the nearness or distance of the latter from it ; 



69 

because electricity and magnetism are the causes which 
change temperature, producing sometimes snow in sum- 
mer, and June weather in the month of January ; for 
it is well enough known that the Sun is much nearer to 
us in winter than in summer, and yet the former is much 
the coldest season. But the latter fact is partially ex- 
plainable on the ground that the Sun's rays fall more 
obliquely on the Earth during the winter than in the 
summer. 

The Sun's influence is more manifested as a controlling 
power in the grand system of planetary revolution and 
equilibrium than in the production of the seasons. The 
principal source of heat is magnetism, whether produced 
by the Sun or the internal laboratories of the Earth. 
I have already said that the Sun and the Earth were 
galvanic batteries ; because every particle of matter 
composing them is a magnet ; and every pulsation of 
its (or their) inherent elements is felt throughout all 
the veins and arteries of existence. Upon this law of 
producing heat and accelerating evaporation, I see how 
man can, by artificial agencies, render the polar regions 
temperate and genial ; melt away the ice in those coun- 
tries far more rapidly than the Sun can do it ; impart 
a galvanic energy to the soil, and stimulate the growth 
of much vegetation now only to be found in tropical 
climates. 

You surely know how all metals may be fused by the 
galvanic magnetism. You remember that Sir Hum- 
phrey Davy had a grand Galvanic battery erected for his 
use, at the Royal Institution in England, whereby he 
was enabled to melt every possible substance obtainable, 
and determine certain great chemical facts which had 
troubled the scientific minds of Europe from the first. 



70 

And, in addition to this, you know how the Sun's rays 
can be turned and altered — yea, polarized, and con- 
densed, and concentrated, and " doubled and twisted'' 
like hempen cords — to suit man's o'er-mastering will, 
and to subserve his purposes ! By a systematic arrange- 
ment of convex lenses and highly polished mirrors of 
steel, the sun's rays may be sent half across the conti- 
nent ; and places now cold may thus be warmed ; swamps 
and marshes may be boiled dry of their waters ; the 
Dead Sea may be converted into a living body ; and 
the wilderness made to blossom and yield abundantly. 
" This is impossible ! " Impossible ! Not so, Mr. Editor, 
for man is destined to put all enemies (to his happiness) 
beneath his feet. Do you not think it reasonable to 
believe that Civilized Man will yet decompose the ene- 
mies in the shape of ice, stagnant water, and unwhole- 
some marshes, and just as deliberately, too, as did 
Archimedes, by a simple arrangement of looking-glasses, 
set on fire all the ships of the enemies who had resolved 
to besiege Syracuse ? 

The galvanic battery in the electric tower should be 
employed in tropical climates and upon deserts fre- 
quently. It is designed to decompose water, in order to 
aid and augment the formation of rain in the upper 
strata ; and the electric communication being from the 
first established within the circle of atmosphere to be 
influenced, the clouds will thence form rapidly. They 
will remain floating from point to point overhead within 
the prescribed area, until they become enough filled to 
settle close to the upper surface of the insulator (the 
lower stratum of air) ; and this may be broken at thirty 
minutes' action and discharge of the contents of the 



71 

prime conductor into the air. The rain will fall in the 
vicinity of whichever prime conductor is employed. 

But in our climate, where the formation of rain-clouds 
is carried on rapidly enough by nature's own galvanic 
processes in connection with the sun, the artificial bat- 
tery can scarcely be required. And yet it would not be 
wise to construct an Electric Tower without a good bat- 
tery of mammoth dimensions, capable of elevating the 
temperature to 212 degrees, at which point water boils, 
and its vapor rapidly ascends toward the upper strata. 
The ascension of this vapor will not disturb the insulator, 
as might be supposed, neither will the Tower, as a point 
in the air ; the object is, to render the under surfaces of 
clouds " magnetic " to particles of water on the Earth. 
Chemists w T ell know that caloric, or heat, has a tendency 
to produce equilibrium. Heat endeavors to produce, in 
all contiguous substances, an equal degree of tempera- 
ture. This is accomplished by radiation, by conduction, 
and reflection. In other words, if a small body of vapor, 
visible or invisible, in the air, be condensed or frosted, 
and then its under surface heated and held in magnetic 
(or positive and negative) relation to the surface of water 
on the globe, the results will be a continual evaporation 
of water, an enlargement and multiplication of clouds in 
the vicinity, and gradual changes of " wind and weather" 
in the lower stratum, — all being the prognostications of 
a shower or storm. The under surfaces of clouds will 
remain vaporized and magnetic until a large and steady 
volume of electricity is caused to enter them. The ac- 
tion of this fluid is immediately to reduce the tempera- 
ture, and condense the .vapor into rain. This effect is 
wrought by the electricity which mountains impart to the 



72 

clouds ; and the rain descends in obedience to this 
simple law, as we have clearly demonstrated. 

The further specifications, &c, for the exact construc- 
tion and management of the machines in the Tower, in 
connection with the electric circuit and " special receiv- 
ers/ ' are for the present withheld. It is sufficient now 
to indicate the fact, that wherever an insulated prime 
conductor or depdt is put up, and whenever the electric 
fluid is directed from that part into the clouds, say for 
the space of twenty -four hours, the phenomena will be : 
first, a wind blowing directly across the circle to the 
depot which is magnetically charged ; second, a reduc- 
tion of temperature in the lower stratum ; third, in all 
cases, the absence of tornadoes, and also of gusts, except 
where hills intervene ; fourth, the gentle fall of rain for 
several leagues from the point where the insulation was 
first broken ; fifth, by reversing the poles or breaking up 
the connection between the Tower and the depot, a rapid 
cessation of the rain in consequence of restoring the 
requisite dryness to the lower stratum ; sixth, the ab- 
sence of thunder and lightning, except to a slight extent, 
and a general rectification of the breathing medium from 
all the impurities arising from dense moisture. Such is 
a summary view of the effects to be philosophically 
expected from our Plan. It is no more mysterious or 
impossible than the Magnetic Telegraph or the Ericsson 
Caloric Engine ! 

By these means every state can control its own storms ; 
and every city may secure to itself the fall of gentle 
showers in summer, or prevent them, whenever the gen- 
eral welfare of the inhabitants requires it. And so, Mr. 
Editor, 



73 

" Is the winter of our discontent 

Made glorious summer by this " — 

new application of scientific principles already well ascer- 
tained ; and so, too, are 

" All the clouds that lowered upon our house 

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried." 

But enough. There are many things to say to agri- 
culturists about the best methods to restore equilibriums 
to the soil ; also how clearing and under-wooding elevated 
places, the destruction of trees on high hills, &c, disturb 
the equilibriums between the air and soil in the meadows 
and lowlands, deteriorate the ground, &c. ; and still 
other suggestions which now flow abundantly into my 
mind ; but I must trespass upon your space and patience 
no longer with further detail. I will, therefore, now 
conclude. Permit me, however, to express to you, Mr. 
Editor, my thanks for thus furnishing me with a channel 
through which to approach a large and intelligent class 
of minds. In accordance with my first impressions of 
this whole subject, generally received more than eighteen 
months ago, portions of which have been suggested by 
different authors, I have written, and you now perceive 
my conclusions. With a firm confidence that they are 
true to the great unchangeable principles of Nature, and 
hence capable of a practical application to the wants of 
mankind, I remain, Yours for Humanity, 

7 



74 



ANSWER TO SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIONS. 

That a multitude of so-called scientific objections will 
be urged against the practicability of the foregoing meth- 
ods to improve the physical conditions of our globe, I 
have no doubt ; because, unfortunately for mankind, cer- 
tain mental organizations have not outgrown that obnox- 
ious and supercilious spirit which ever stands in the 
pathway leading toward truth and fresh discovery. The 
strongest objections have not been written ; those I have 
seen are but the superficial ebullitions of superficial minds. 
Indirectly, however, as an insurmountable difficulty in 
the way of our philosophy, and with a commendable 
degree of scepticism and timidity respecting the strength 
of his own positions, an individual, immediately subse- 
quent to the publication of my letters, made the follow- 
ing request : 

' ' The undersigned is desirous of obtaining facts in regard to the rising 
of water in wells and springs, just before a rain. Accounts of occurrences 
of this nature are respectfully requested. It is desirable that particulars 
should be given ; such as the increase in the depth of the water, and the 
length of time elapsing between the rising of the water and the falling of 
the rain. Whether, if the interval of time is short, the rain is heavy or 
light ; and whether this phenomenon, in any given instance, invariably 
happens before a rain, year after year, or is a easual occurrence." 

The idea here designed to be conveyed, in this solicit- 
ation for hydrological facts, is, that the rising of water 
in wells and springs just before a rain disproves the non- 
existence of the Insulator as set forth in the philosophy. 
The barometer is certainly a good hydrometric instru- 
ment, which quite accurately measures or indicates the 
specific gravity — the density and rarity — of fluid bod- 



75 

ies ; and I am quite persuaded that this instrument will 
add its testimony to the hyclrodynamical statements 
already made. The rarity and density of fluid bodies, 
particularly the atmosphere, are difficult to determine, 
although the mercurial substance never fails to manifest 
the preponderance of either cold or heat, or the near 
approach of storm-clouds and the electricities which con- 
trol them, as well as the absence of those elements whereby 
rain is produced and protracted. 

Wells and springs are very accurate hydrometrical 
facts. Our philosophy demands no better evidence of the 
rectitude of its fundamental principles on this subject, 
— no better demonstration that the ultimate deductions 
and conclusions are legitimate, and will lead to practical 
applications of those principles. It was explicitly shown, 
and the reasons stated, that the whole phenomenon of 
rain is produced and controlled by the alternate action of 
positive and negative electricities, — the one warm, the 
other cold ; or, in other words, by one element, — the 
one, magnetism, which is positive — the other, electric- 
ity, which is negative. Clouds are formed on this prin- 
ciple. This principle is universal. It circulates the 
blood, actuates the vitalities of organic life, and sustains 
the illimitable univercoelum in its eternal revolutions 
through the vortex of infinite space. 

The lower surfaces of clouds are magnetic, whilst the 
upper surfaces of water are electrical. Previous to a 
rain-storm, wells and springs rise, because the water is 
attracted, through the dry insulator, by the magnetism 
and positive force in the upper stratum of clouds, or by 
the attractive power in the region where the clouds are 
destined to form. "When formed into dense masses, then 
partially by Virtue of their own weight, and partially by 



76 

some extraneous disturbance of the Insulator, the con- 
tents of the clouds are precipitated to the earth. When 
scientific men shall perfectly understand the principle of 
water being powerfully attracted from the ocean, the 
causes of the " water-spout " observable at sea, then the 
rising of " wells and springs just before a rain" will 
cease to be an objection to our philosophy of storms. 
The common reason, that the " sun attracts the water," 
is manifestly unsound. It is true that the sun does 
extemporize a mighty volume of magnetism, which, like 
the golden rivers of paradise, flow over the fields and 
countries, spreading gladness and loveliness in all habita- 
tions of men. But the ascension of • water, the vapor- 
ization of aqueous material, is an effect exclusively of the 
particular causes already defined. Therefore, for the 
present, I pass on to other objections. The article, con- 
taining further strictures, appeared in a "respectable" 
Daily,* and I quote it entire : 

A. J. DAVIS ON RAIN. 

The Times of Tuesday evening has furnished us with the concluding let- 
ter of a series by Mr. Davis on the " Philosophy of producing and control- 
ling Rain." The lovers of science were, no doubt, startled by the an- 
nouncement contained in the first letter : and it is probable that many who 
were unacquainted with the former extravagances of its author have had 
the curiosity to wade through the unfolding of the promised plan. If there 
were any such, it is certain they have quitted the concluding sentence of 
the last article with either pity for the writer, or sheer disgust with his 
fancies. 

It is simply the fear of seeming to take a too great notice of nothing, 
that prevents the instituting a sort of review of these four extraordinary 
letters. "VVe might insinuate against the very great extent of the informa- 
tion possessed by the spirits, under whose direction these letters purport to 
have been penned, when they " impress " on the mind of their agent to 

* This article is taken from the Hartford Courant, bearing date February 
23, 1853. The author's name did not appear, but the # strictures were 
endorsed by " W. F. S." 



77 

leclare that certain facts " will in time be recognized by scientific men,'' 
whereas many of these facts have been so recognized for a long period ! 
(Mr. Davis' impression on the connection of electricity with water is an 
instance in point.) We might, on behalf of the world, most profoundly 
thank Mr. Davis for having explained fully and exactly what has hitherto 
proved a mystery to scientific persons — the Aurora Borealis. But we 
should be censured by an enlightened community for bestowing so much 
attention upon what they themselves regard as a matter beneath their con- 
sideration. There are three questions, however, which, we submit, it would 
not have been inappropriate for Mr. Davis to have answered. 

1st. Who is expected to furnish funds for the erection of a new " Mam- 
moth Leyden Jar " after the inevitable destruction of one or more of them 
by every thunder-storm which may chance to pass % 

2d. What will become of the vapor created by the "boiling dry of 
swamps and marshes," and will it not be likely to fall again in the very 
place it is most desirable it should not fall ? 

3d. Allowing that the Rain Apparatus is built and in working order, 
and that it has proved itself able to accomplish all its proposer claims, is 
it supposable all the inhabitants of any place would desire rain at one and 
the same time ? Such an unanimity would be without a parallel. Who, 
then, is to determine whether or not it shall rain at any given time % 

This little work, as I was at first impressed it would 
be, is designed to throw out " Thoughts for the Age ;" 
hence the business of criticism comes properly into the 
composition of these pages. 

The above objections are preceded, as the reader ob- 
serves, with that supercilious and superficial presumption 
which invariably characterizes certain minds full of edu- 
cation, of learning, but in whom Wisdom, the internal 
power of discernment, has had as yet no resurrection. I 
republish this portion of his strictures, not to frame a 
reply, but simply to show the kind of tree which usually 
bears the fruit of prejudice and arrogance. 

He says, "many facts have been recognized for a 
long period' ' which I think will in time be recognized 
by scientific men ; thus implying that my " impressions ' ' 
were a long way behind the scientific information of the 
age. But the truth is, that the facts to which I alluded 



78 

are not at all accepted by the investigators of physical 
science. My principal fact was the identity of the con- 
stituents of water with the constituents of the atmos- 
phere. This is not broached in the scientific world, 
except indirectly by Sir Humphrey Davy, and less dis- 
tinctly by Liebig, the boldest generalizer of the day. 

But he proposes three questions. He thinks the Ley- 
den jars, with their platinum knobs ascending into the 
upper air, will be destroyed inevitably by every thunder- 
storm which may chance to pass. Now let me remark, 
it is a fact in electricity that there are conductors and 
non-conductors, and that the lightning is attracted by 
'points of trees, dwellings, &c, but not by round or com- 
paratively non-conducting substances. The platinum 
knob will seldom, if ever, be disturbed by lightning, 
because it is not attractive when in the shape proposed ; 
but would rather repel the negative electricity which 
rolls the clouds together, and produces the voice of the 
thunder in the heavens. 

The next inconsiderate interrogatory is, whether the 
rain will not be likely to fall again in the marshes which 
I propose to boil dry ? To this objection let me reply, 
that my impressions conducted my mind to a conclusion, 
simple in itself, that the wonderful increase of population 
on the globe would compel man to convert useless tracts 
of land, untillable swamps and barren deserts, into 
yielding a subsistence for the multiplication of the hu- 
man type. And the plan is to construct galvanic thermal 
batteries, for the rapid decomposition of water and moist- 
ure, in valleys and low lands now inaccessible. When 
the water is sufficiently vaporized to allow working men, 
with spades in their hands and wisdom in their heads, to 
dig and construct large canals or channels for the flow of 



79 

• 

water, to draw away the moisture from bog and marshy 
environments, then, though rain will return to earth, it 
will not remain in the localities as before. These canals 
will then subserve commercial ends ; they may be used 
to convey produce and other commodities to and from the 
now inhabitable and tillable districts. And on deserts 
the galvanic batteries may be used to augment the form- 
ation and fall of rain, as already suggested. 

Another scientific (?) objection is presented by a writer 
in the Tribune, bearing date April 20, 1853. The critic 
says : " The galvanic decomposition of the quantity of 
water which annually falls on a single acre of land in this 
climate would require the consumption of about 20,000 
tons of zinc ; and there is not enough of zinc, nor even 
of iron, manufactured throughout the world, to decom- 
pose, in the same manner, the amount of rain which 
falls on a farm of 100 acres. But in the present case 
criticism is not necessary." 

Than this there surely cannot be a greater mistake 
founded upon misapprehension. The far-famed calcula- 
tion of Dr. Dyonisius Lardner, that a steamship could 
only carry the quantity of coal requisite for a trip to 
England, and could not, therefore, serve the purposes of 
the transportation of goods and passengers, is certainly no 
less a failure of scientific information and decision. Let it 
be understood, however, that I do not propose the common 
galvanic battery for the ends contemplated. The principle 
I simply urged in order to beget faith in the practica- 
bility of the project ; for I perceive a vastly different 
use of zinc and copper, with another composition not now 
known to scientific men, for the galvanic batteries which 
are adapted to the decomposition of water in marshes 
and stagnant localities. And yet, for the limited pur- 



80 

poses of the rain-towers, the ordinary construction might 
temporarily serve, and without great expense. 

The third question put by the first objector refers to 
the difficulty of securing an agreement among the inhab- 
itants of any given place ! This critic must be endowed 
with an extraordinary development of Cautiousness. The 
power to " borrow trouble " is surely very large and active 
in his head ; for the objection here anticipated is certainly 
grounded upon no other consideration. There will be 
but little trouble, among reasonable people, respecting 
the question of " the greatest good to the greatest num- 
ber. 7 ' The reader, desiring to be in truth a Harmonial 
Man, will readily reconcile the objections here urged to 
the wants and requirements of humanity. 



PLAGIARISM. — CLAIRVOYANCE ILLUSTRATED. 



In order to illustrate a few facts in my own history as 
a clairvoyant, I commence by quoting the following from 

the New York Tribune : 

THE RIVAL RAIN-MAKERS. 

Mr. Daniel Vaughan, of Covington, Ky., writes us that he published 
last October a circular (which he encloses) " On the Causes of Rain, and 
the possibility of modifying them by Art," which he distributed among 
the members of the " American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence," and afterwards inserted in Buchanan's Journal of Man for last Jan- 
uary. In December last a copy was given by a friend to Andrew Jackson 
Davis, then lecturing in Cincinnati, who promised to give it special consid- 



81 

eration when next in a clairvoyant state. Here we introduce Mr. V. him- 
self, thus continuing : 

" A few days ago I received two numbers of The Hartford Times, con- 
taining four letters from A. J. Davis, in which he claims my theory as his 
own, and pretends to have arrived at a knowledge of it during one of his 
clairvoyant spells. Besides amalgamating my doctrine with his spiritual- 
isms, embellishing them with his sublime jargon, and committing some 
notorious blunders in his attempts to alter my expressions, he pretends to 
quote from the writings of Humboldt a sentence which he copied, with 
scarcely any alteration, from my circular. I was informed to-day, by my 
friend Dr. Buchanan, that you noticed Mr. Davis' lectures, and promised 
to publish them in your able journal. Should you do so, I think it my duty 
to request that you will publish my Circular ; and should you deem the 
whole too long for insertion, you may omit the last page. I have been 
informed that you receive The Journal of Man. I refer you to another 
article of mine on the Causes of Rain and Storms, published in the Febru- 
ary number (page 50) ; and this, perhaps, may be found suited to the char- 
acter of your paper. By complying with my request, you will stop the 
progress of delusion, and enable your readers to form a proper estimate of 
1 Spiritualism ' and its votaries. I am your sincere friend, 

' ' Daniel Vaughan. ' ' 

We have not contemplated publishing Mr. Davis' Lectures on Rain- 
Making, so that all necessity for inserting Mr. Yaughan's Circular is obvi- 
ated. We do not feel much interest in the matter in its present shape ; 
but, if either of the gentlemen above named will get up a good smart 
thunder-shower to order — say in Westchester County — about the time our 
potatoes most need it next summer, we '11 be happy to contribute toward the 
expense, if not too high.* [Ed. 

In accordance with my impressions, I three days sub- 
sequently wrote a rejoinder to the above, somewhat in 
self-defence — a proceeding to which I am almost wholly 
unaccustomed — giving the following explanatory state- 
ments : 

" Horace Greeley, Esq. — Dear Sir : From an arti- 
cle in The Tribune of the 25th inst. over the signature 
of Daniel Vaughan, accusing me very frankly of plagia- 
rizing from his ' Theory of the Causes of Rain, and the 

* See New York Tribune bearing date March 25, 1853. 



82 

Possibility of Modifying them by Art/ I infer that we 
may reasonably look for ' more rain about these days,' 
but hope it will come unaccompanied with borrowed thun- 
der. I have no desire to deprive the gentleman of any 
thoughts or theories for which he justly deserves a repu- 
tation ; but I wish to state a few explanatory facts and 
singular coincidences connected with the above serious 
accusation. 

" First, it is true that 'a copy of Mr. Vaughan's circular 
was given to me by a friend in Cincinnati ;* second, I also 
subscribed for The Journal of Man, through an agent, 
for one year, commencing with the January number, in 
which Mr. Vaughan's article was republished ;f third, the 
very first subject which I was impressed to write upon, 
after my return to Hartford, was ( The Philosophy of 
Producing and Controlling the Fall of Rain ; fourth, and 
in my letters to The Times on this theme you may dis- 
cover a general likeness to Mr. Vaughan's theory, — also 
some seven coincidences in regard to quotation of geo- 
graphical facts and illustrations taken from the book of 

* This fact I had no recollection of previous to the writing of my letters 
on the Philosophy of Rain ; because a large quantity of papers and circu- 
lars were from time to time given to me when in Ohio, the contents of which 
I had neither time nor health to examine. But, as I remembered to have 
had a conversation with a Mr. Buckley, of Ohio, on the subject of control- 
ling the fall of rain, I resolved to write him, and ascertain for a certainty 
whether he handed to me Mr. Vaughan's circular. In his reply he says : 
M Mr. Vaughan gave me a copy of his views, which I gave you, and you 
put them away among your other papers, because you were then engaged in 
some other subject." Thus, as the fact of having received it is clear to my 
own mind, I cheerfully acknowledge it. 

f This fact (of the Journal containing such an article from Mr. Vaughan) 
I became aware of for the first time when I was shown the January num- 
ber of Buchanan's Journal by the junior editor of the Hartford Times, after 
my letters to that paper were all written. Thus, again, as this fact is also 
clear, I acknowledge it. 



83 



Nature. All on this side of the picture is certainly suf- 
ficient to fix reasonable suspicion upon me. 

" But please look on the other side, also. First, dur- 
ing my trip through Ohio, numerous letters, pamphlets, 
circulars, &c, were handed to me for examination at my 
earliest convenience ; but, on my return home, I found, 
much to my disappointment, that I had left or lost nearly 
all of them, — Mr. Vaughan's circular and the January 
number of The Journal of Man with them ! Second, I 
most positively and solemnly declare that, before I wrote 
my letters to The Hartford Times on Rain, I had never 
read anything from any author on this subject. Third, 
as to the Theory of Rain, I can furnish the evidence to 
prove that, in the main principle, I was two years in 
advance of Mr. Vaughan, whose circular was published 
last October. Fourth, I can also bring documentary evi- 
dence to show that it was my conversation with a friend 
of Mr. Vaughan's, in Cincinnati, upon this subject, — a 
statement in general terms to him of what I had seen in 
clairvoyance about c producing and controlling the fall of 
rain/ — -which reminded him of certain somewhat similar 
speculations by Mr. Vaughan. Thus I can prove priority 
of impression in regard to the theory ; and the friend 
alluded to, in consequence of this similarity, subsequently 
brought to me the circular for clairvoyant examination. 

" He says I ' pretend to quote from Humboldt a sen- 
tence ' which belongs to him. If any such mistake 
occurred, I am sorry ; but I must first see Humboldt's 
writings before I will confess to any misquotation. 
While inditing my impressions, the different views of 
authors on the subject, whatever it is, come before me 
with great vividness, and I occasionally quote from 
them ; but always give them credit for their words, 



84 

except in four instances, when the name did not come to 
me. Mr. Vaughan says that if you deem his circular . 
1 too long for insertion, you may omit the last page.' 
This omission I cannot consent to, if you publish at all, 
because ' the last page • demonstrates the independence 
of my impressions, — the plan for producing rain being 
totally different ! Spiritualism, however, will progress 
without any assistance from 

, " Yours, fraternally, A. J. Davis/ ' 

During the past seven years I have had a vast amount 
of mental experience in the sphere of clairvoyance. If 
I were to consult my feelings, I think my pen would 
never trace. a word in self-defence, or ever be arrested in 
its course to record any personal proofs of the reliability 
of the condition which I habitually enter. Blame and 
praise are alike useless and uninfluential so far as my 
mind is concerned ; but my impressions now say, "Write 
for others,' ' and I therefore proceed to the task. With 
this object in view, I shall write concerning "myself un- 
hesitatingly, as if I had another person under considera- 
tion. 

To say that I never read anything on the theory of 
rain previous to the publication of my letters, and to sig- 
nify a willingness to be qualified by the most solemn oath 
to the effect that I had not read Mr. Vaughan' s circular, 
ean, as I am perfectly aware, have no weight with per- 
sons who consider me unprincipled enough to fabricate a 
theory by plagiarizing ideas from the already published 
opinions of another. Indeed, such a conviction would 
be to consider me not only as thoroughly unprincipled, 
but also deficient in the commonest kind of common sense. 
That I should deliberately copy from a circular, already 



85 

made public and well known in channels wherein my 
own works circulate extensively, is to suppose an act of 
short-sightedness and folly on my part seldom exceeded 
by a victim of lunacy or imbecility ! 

Mr. Vaughan's charge is unreservedly made ; conse- 
quently it remains for me to record my defence — not, 
however, to explain away this matter in particular, but 
to throw a few explanatory sentences over my past expe- 
rience. "He claims my theory as his own," says the 
correspondent, "besides amalgamating my doctrine with 
his spiritualisms/ ' 

Now, what is " my doctrine,' ' which is alleged to have 
been purloined and published by me as original ? The 
circular in question lies before me, from which I quote : 
" If the temperature be reduced, part of this vapor will 
condense and be deposited as dew." ..." The 
continual union of unequally heated portions of the at- 
mosphere must, indeed, give rise to a condensation of 
this nature on numerous occasions, and be a prolific 
source of rain." Now, if it can be shown prior to October 
last, 1852 (when this circular was first published), that I 
have uttered, while in clairvoyance, the identical doctrine, 
then, of course, so far as this point goes, I am entitled 
to the credit of originality. Mr. Yaughan is doubtless 
laboring under the conviction that his circular was the 
source of my knowledge of rain and its causes. In 
order to disabuse his mind, I will quote from " Nat. Div. 
Bevelations," pp. 285-6, published in 1847 : 

"It is a fact altogether overlooked in the researches 
of meteorologists, that the condition of the higher degrees 
of the imponderable elements determines entirely the 
temperature of the atmosphere, from its minimum to its 

maximum degree of heat and cold." 

8 



86 

" Clouds are the result of the consociation of the parti- 
cles of atmosphere of equal density ; and these, becoming 
entirely too dense to continue in the atmosphere, descend 
to associate with their former element. Such is the cause 
of the common phenomenon of rain ; and this never would 
occur if the temperature were always equal, and the equi- 
librium of the air remained at all times undisturbed." 

Here, then, is the same doctrine which Mr. Hutton 
and several meteorologists have from time to time pro- 
mulgated, and which is reiterated, with some modifica- 
tions, by the Ohio circular. But what are those modifica- 
tions ? Did I obtain new views from them ? Let us see. 
I have been to the trouble of looking over my published 
volumes, in order to get at what I have hitherto written 
on the subject of Rain and the constitution of the atmos- 
phere ; and I find, much to my gratification, that I have 
not, in my articles to the Times, put forth any really 
new or contradictory impression's to those received long 
before Mr. Vaughan's circular appeared. He teaches 
the existence of strata in the atmosphere : " The evap- 
oration of water and the friction of the air against the 
surface of the earth are commonly regarded as the prin- 
cipal sources of atmospheric electricity ; and, to render 
the mechanism of nature more effective for its develop- 
ment and for confining it to the upper regions, an insu- 
lator is provided by means of the lower stratum of air, 
which is most free from humidity." 

Concerning the accumulation of electricity, I quote 
from pages 86, 87, first vol. of Great Harmonia, pub- 
lished in 1850 : " Electricity exists in and through all 
nature, because it is coessential and coeternal with the 
constitution of the universe." . . "Matter is con- 
tinually in motion. This motion (or friction) changes the 



87 

relations which subsist between particles ; and it is by 
these changes that electricity is generated and evolved." 

. . "The electricity thus evolved or developed is, at 
first, that gross kind manifesting itself in the clouds, in 
the atmosphere, &c. . . When that volume of elec- 
tricity which was, ten minutes ago, generated in an iron 
or silver mine, reaches the atmosphere, its particles are 
marvellously changed and attenuated ; " — that is, it then 
forms what Mr. Vaughan terms the "insulator," com- 
posed of the lower stratum, comparatively free from hu- 
midity. The same doctrine is to be found on page 93, 
first volume of Harmonia. 

He teaches or implies the doctrine of strata in the air, 
which I also, with considerable likeness of phraseology, 
advocate in my letters to the Times, giving him the opin- 
ion that his "theory" was undoubtedly plagiarized. 
But to prove that I taught the identical theory seven 
years ago, I will quote from my first work, page 296 : 

" It is well here to notice that the particles of atmos- 
phere that are found in the envelope of the earth, as it 
now is, are atoms which have ascended from lower con- 
ditions. And the condition of every earthy formation is 
represented in the atmospheric formation ; and it will be 
observed that each of the earthy strata has an ethereal 
or atmospheric stratum which is in direct correspondence- 
thereunto. And the atmosphere is composed of as many 
strata, both as to its general divisions and its subdivisions, 
as are found in the earth's crust. It is evident from this, 
that from the first condensation of the granite coating up 
to the period when a new substance was produced, the 
water and atmosphere must have been correspondingly 
dense and gross in their composition. And the forma- 
tion of every new stratum, which consisted of the ascend- 



88 

ing particles of the lower, must have resulted in a corre- 
sponding ascension of the grosser particles of the atmos- 
phere, as evolved and developed from the interior elements 
of the earth/' 

There is one striking coincidence, namely, that both 
he and I should denominate the lower attenuated stratum 
of air "an Insulator," and that we should particularly 
notice the action of trees, high mountains, &c, upon the 
upper regions. But for either to lay claim to originality 
in the latter particular would be to assault the rights of 
every intelligent farmer and meteorologist. The influence 
of trees, high latitudes, mountains, lofty elevations of 
land, upon the clouds and the elements controlling the 
causes and fall of rain, has been remarked by hundreds 
of minds. While I was writing my letters on this sub- 
ject, my impressions came frequently freighted with 
the thoughts of some twenty different authors ; among 
them conspicuously stood Humboldt and Hutton, men- 
tioned alike by Mr. Yaughan and myself. But, as his 
circular is now before me, I discover that he quotes from 
Boussingalt, which I did not, and I quote from an east- 
ern philosopher, which he did not, — the ideas being 
generally identical on the influence of trees, &c, as 
involved in the fall of rain. 

When I was shown the identity between his philosophy 
of the causes of rain and my own, and that we both 
referred to about seven facts in nature, as illustrations, in 
very similar words, I readily saw that many persons, 
wholly unacquainted with the principles of clairvoyance, 
or disbelieving the existence of such a power, would say 
that I obtained my impressions from external reading. 
Accordingly, remembering a conversation I had had with 
Mr. Buckley, before leaving Cincinnati, I resolved to 



' 89 

write him for a statement. I subjoin the substance of 
his reply : 

" Aurora, Ind., March 3, 1853. 
"A. J. Davis. — Dear Sir: Your letter was remitted to me by my 
friends, and I will answer. 

' ' I distinctly remember of your conversation about the ' Philosophy of 
Producing Rain,' and I also remember of telling you about Daniel Vaugh- 
an's article being i n many particulars identical with your ideas. You were 
very much surprised to hear that Prof. F.'s notions were similar to your own* 
. . . . I also remember that you remarked that the Pyramids were 
not built exclusively for producing rain (a hypothesis suggested by Mr. 
Vaughan) , although they subserved that purpose to a great extent ; but 
that their primary object was to worship the gods of Egypt in, &c. And 
you stated that you had possessed the impression for a long time that man 
would yet control and produce storms when needed ; perhaps as easily, 
comparatively, as he controls electricity. I am perfectly satisfied that you 
are entitled to priority of impression, because Prof. V. had not given much 
publicity to his views at the time I mentioned the subject to you. . . 
" Wishing you health and happiness, 

"I am, dear sir, yours, truly, 

"J.G. Buckley." 

From this letter it is demonstrated that my impressions 
had long ago traversed the ground which Mr. Vaughan' s 
mind had recently reached by his own mental workings. 
I know that the main particulars in my articles to The 
Times have been familiar to my mind, and I have con- 
versed about them, more or less, for the last five years, 

— in fact, ever since the " Revelations " were published, 

— wherein, as already shown, the doctrine which Mr. V. 
claims as his "theory'' maybe found. But says an 
objector, "You got your impressions from Buckley's 
mind." Now, in order to prove that I conversed about 
upper and lower strata in the air, about the formation of 
clouds, about a plan to make the rain descend, .or other- 

* The reader should bear in mind that this conversation transpired pre- 
vious to the circular coming into my possession through the subsequent 
kindness and attention of Dr. Buckley. 

8* 



90 • 

wise, before I had any interview with Mr. B. on this 
subject, I introduce the testimony of a friend at whose 
house I had the pleasure of sojourning while in Cincin- 
nati. I wrote to him for a statement of my talk with 
him, and he very promptly returned the following reply : 

" Cincinnati, Feb. 22, 1853. 

; ' Dear Friend Jackson : — Your favor of the 19th inst. has just come to 
hand. I vail answer the main points in your letter, leaving the friendly 
thoughts and sympathies, which ' crowd for utterance,' until another time. 

" I well recollect a conversation with you while you were with us in 
Cincinnati, the purport of which was that you had seen* the means by 
which the fall of rain, and (I think) the temperature of the atmosphere 
might be regulated, so as both to produce rain when needed, and to avoid 
it at other times. We did not go into the details of the plan, but you said 
that it would not involve a very great expense, the chief difficulty being 
in the erection of towers of a sufficient height to pierce the stratum of 
atmosphere in which the clouds were formed. I received the impression 
that some electrical conductor (like the telegraph wires) was to be sus- 
pended from these towers, thus enclosing any given tract of country to be 
affected. 

" You also thought the experiment might be tried on a small scale, to 
prove its practicability, by artificially producing a certain state of the at- 
mosphere in a room. Of this conversation I have no other distinct recol- 
lection ; but it was previous to a conversation which I overheard between 
yourself and Mr. Buckley, in which the Pyramids of the Egyptians were 
mentioned by him. 

" I can scarcely believe it necessary that you should fortify your position, 
as originator of these ideas, by any appeal to your friends who have heard 
your conversations previous to the appearance of the article in the Journal 
of Man. 

"In the first place, that article (which I have just read for the first time) 
is mostly a collection of facts before known, excepting the plan for forming 
a conductor to penetrate the upper air; and this, you say, is an entirely 
different process from your own. Your friends, at least, who have known 
and been the pleased listeners to the many ideas advanced by you on this 
and kindred topics, will not for a moment harbor the thought that you 
could have borrowed aught from any such source. 

" Mr. Green informed us that you had written the letters to The Times, 

*Of course I understood you to mean that you had " seen " it clairvoy- 
antly, or in your superior condition. 



91 

and we have been since looking with interest for them. Please do not 
omit to have them sent to us. With our best wishes, 

" Yours, fraternally, A. 0. Moore." 

Concerning the plan for causing rain, Mr. Vaughan 
remarks : " From the result of the experiments of Na- 
ture, it is evident that by discharging the electricity in 
the upper part of our atmosphere, we may deprive rain 
of its injurious effects/ ' &c. Reader, did I obtain my 
ideas from his circular, which was first published in Oc- 
tober, 1852 ? If you say " Yes," then I have but to refer 
you for counter-evidence to the third volume of the Har- 
monia, page 19, wherein occur these words : " Man will 
yet learn how to create and preserve an equilibrium be- 
tween the soil and atmosphere. He will be enabled to 
instigate, control and direct, the fall of rain over such 
portions of the land as need moisture ; and man will ele- 
vate much parsimonious soil to the height of richness and 
abundance." But how is this possible ? On the same 
page you may find the answer : " Electricity will be the 
means, under man's direction, of conveying away from 
unhealthy localities the pestilential miasm which gener- 
ates disease among men." 

This is not a world of " originals." The mass of men- 
tality is sympathetically related through all its parts, and 
many minds, independent of each other, arrive at analo- 
gous conclusions and verbal coincidences^ as among poets 
and mechanical inventors. Nevertheless, I know that I 
may justly claim independency of impression, and remind 
Mr. Vaughan that his " theory" might be traced to a 
source other than his own. 

At the conclusion of my fourth letter may be found 
this comprehensive acknowledgment of all the facts 
quoted by me, in my own language, from various au- 



92 

thors : "In accordance with my impressions received 
more than eighteen months ago, portions of which have 
been suggested by different authors, I have written, and 
you now perceive my conclusions/ ' 

" But," interposes the objector, " you contradict your- 
self. You pretend to know nothing about what you are 
going to write next. You say what the ' plan will be ' 
is no more known to your brain than to the editor. And 
yet it appears you have talked about the theory and the 
plan in Cincinnati, before you wrote your articles. How 
can you explain this ? " 

This contradiction, so called, is one which I think will 
ever be a result of my mental experience. I fear to 
prolong my explanations, lest I fatigue the reader's mind. 
But this point demands a few remarks. 

In the first place, it is my mental habit never to com- 
pose myself to enter the Superior Condition with the 
least prepossession for or against anything which I then 
attempt to investigate. Any bias of thought or affection 
militates powerfully against the acquisition of clear and 
truthful impressions. If I converse in Cincinnati, or 
anywhere else, respecting my impressions on controlling 
Rain hitherto received, the ideas then broached are never 
allowed to act upon my mind when I investigate that 
subject again. If I state any given proposition, my 
psychological habit is, not to let that proposition operate 
upon my mind when next I enter the clairvoyant condi- 
tion. I live only in the Present. I am not mortgaged 
to the Past in any respect. Every time I pass into the 
interior state I get new and more enlarged views of 
everything I investigate. I never permit myself to pre- 
meditate or prearrange my writing or my thoughts. 
When I know that I am fully " in the spirit," or clair- 



93 

voyance, my habit is to write irrespective of anything 1 
ever before wrote or expressed, regardless alike of blame 
or praise, — trammelling my mind with no love of con- 
sistency, with no desire for an agreement with foregone 
conclusions. 

In the second place, by pursuing this plan my spirit is 
always free to assert, in truth, that I never know what 's 
coming next. What I may have said yesterday enters not 
into my investigations to-day, by any action of my own will ; 
but if I seldom contradict myself, either in what I have 
hitherto uttered or written, the fact is referable only to the 
uniform and veritable impressions which the great interior 
world imparts to my awakened sensibilities. I write thus 
much to meet the charge of " contradicting myself ;" — 
more especially henceforth to clear the track, so that I 
can make any number of verbal contradictions hereafter, 
without being put to the trouble of explaining the trivial 
causes. Recently I met with a paragraph, written by 
E. W. Emerson, which, taken altogether, states my men- 
tal habits most perfectly, with the understanding that I 
do not apply the closing sentence to myself. After 
alluding to non- conformity as opposing free speech, he 
adds : 

" The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency, — a 
reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other 
data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disap- 
point them. 

" But why should you keep your head over your shoulders? Why drag 
about this corpse of your memory, lest you contradict somewhat you have 
stated in this or that public place ? Suppose you should contradict your- 
self, what then ? It seems to be a rule of wisdom never to rely on your 
memory alone, scarcely even in acts of pure memory, but to bring the past 
for judgment into the thousand-eyed presents, and live ever in a new day. 
In your metaphysics, you have denied personality to the Deity ; yet, when 
the devout motions of the soul come, yield to them heart and life, though 



94 

they should clothe God with shape and color. Leave your theory, as 
Joseph did his coat in the house of the harlot, and flee. 

" A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little 
statesmen, and philosophers, and divines. With consistency a great soul 
has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his 
shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now, in hard words ; and 
to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks, in hard words again, though it 
contradict everything you said to-day. Ah ! so you shall be sure to be mis- 
understood. Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was 
misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and 
Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. 
To be great is to be misunderstood." 

Mr. Vaughan's plan for modifying the causes of Rain 
by art is stated in his circular as follows : "A tempo- 
rary communication may be most readily formed by pro- 
jecting a considerable body of water into the atmosphere 
by the means' of the expansive force of condensed air, 
or of carbonic acid subjected to a pressure somewhat less 
than is required for its liquefication." He then pro- 
ceeds to give his plan, with general specifications. The 
tube for projecting the water on high should be in " the 
form of the letter U, or of a semi-circle. " One end of 
this tube is to be "permanently closed ;■" the other end 
should be " stopped air tight by means of a large valve 
which presses against its mouth, and turns on an axle 
when opening. . . . At a short distance below this 
valve, let the tube communicate with a strong vessel, in 
which carbonic acid is prepared,' ' &c. After describing 
the modus operandi with a suggestive spirit, he says : 
"From a cast-iron tube 200 feet long, 20 inches in 
diameter, and 2 inches thick, a cylindrical column of 
water thirty feet long may be in this manner launched 
into the air, with a velocity of over 700 feet a second ; 
and, if not prevented by the air, it should reach an 
elevation of nearly 8000 feet. ,, 

These words I quote from his circular before me, and 



95 

the reader may for himself judge whether or not there 
is any likeness whatever between Mr. Vaughan's plan for 
controlling rain and mine ! I confess that I would not 
like to be the author of his suggestions on this head. I 
am thus particular, not, as already remarked, for my own 
reputation or defence, but to lay the facts impartially 
before the reader's judgment. 

I have alluded to seven coincidences in regard to quo- 
tations of geographical facts. Let us examine them, for 
upon these is predicated the boldest charge of plagiarism. 
To demonstrate that my mind, while writing the letters, 
was not restricted to his authorities and illustrations, I 
will recapitulate my references, and will italicise those 
in which, with considerable likeness of phraseology, we 
agree : — 

To an eastern philosopher (whose name I could not 
obtain), Alex. Humboldt ; Dr. James Button ; the coun- 
tries of Peru and the Cordilleras ; the waters of the Ama- 
zon, or the Gulf Stream flowing into the Atlantic ; La- 
roach and Crusell ; an individual river in South America 
contributing more than all other rivers in that country to 
the ocean ; * the rivers in Africa flowing from mountains 
under the Equator ; the rivers of California, and of coun- 
tries still more mountainous ; Arabian Plains ; Aus- 
tralia ; fogs of Newport ; Cape Horn ; the rocky coasts 
of Norway ; the Archipelago of Chonos ; the entire ' ac- 
count of the meteorology of Mexico ; the State of Ohio ; 
the territories of Venezuela ; the meteorology of Camana ; 
the temperature, &c, of the southern part of Orinoco ; 
Aurora Borealis ; different towns in Connecticut ; Sir 
Humphrey Davy ; and the experiment of Archimedes. 

* This reference is couched in nearly Mr. Vaughan's language ; but, as 
the reader will remember, is credited as from Baron Humboldt. 



96 

But one thing more is worthy of notice ; that is, each 
allude to high latitudes, where the region of the clouds 
has little elevation, being characterized by fogs and 
mists, but not by excessive rains. 

Now the facts are stated. I have shown that the 
principles and much of the minutice of his " doctrine", 
are to be found in my first work ; that the idea of an 
Insulator is strongly intimated in my second book ; that 
the "theory" of electricity, in connection with the 
clouds, was long ago presented to my mind ; that the 
controlling of rain by means of electricity was made 
known to me in clairvoyance more than eighteen months 
ago ; that I conversed about the theory and plan before 
I talked with Mr. Buckley respecting this matter ; that 
it was my conversation with this gentleman which re- 
minded him of what Mr. Vaughan had written ; that all 
this occurred before I had any external access to the cir- 
cular ; that my plan is totally dissimilar to his ; that I 
refer to. upwards of thirty chemical and other facts to 
which not even the least hint is given in the circular ; 
and, lastly, that the entire contents of that paper, if 
copied, would not make more than one of my letters. 
Whence came the extra facts and matter ? Should an 
effect not be proportionate to its cause ? Does Mr. V. 
think the geographical facts of the river Amazon, the 
rivers of South America, African rivers, the rains on the 
Coasts of Norway, the Archipelago of Chonos, &c, are 
original facts with him ? Surely, twenty different trav- 
ellers and authors have alluded to these facts in similar 
phraseology, and Humboldt in particular. 

Before I proceed to present "for others" a few 
illustrations of personal clairvoyance, I will state what I 
understand to be the explanation of the foregoing coin- 



97 

cidences. While writing, I can always distinguish be- 
tween the thoughts of different authors, and separate 
them, perfectly, from the impressions flowing in conse- 
quence of the nearness, at the time, of my interior sen- 
sibilities to the interior world of Intelligence. In this 
particular case my mind, without any premeditations or 
prepossessions of its own, was directed to the examina- 
tion of the philosophy of the formation of clouds, how to 
control them, &c. ; and I wrote word after word, as each 
were awakened in my mind by the inflowing impressions. 
And the coincidences arose from the fact that Mr. V. 
had himself reasoned out a theory (previously known to 
me), and referred to the most prominent geographical 
natural illustrations in order to explain his thoughts ; 
and I, with the same doctrine of storms before me, also 
referred to the identical facts (and to many more), be- 
cause that they were so manifestly demonstrative of the 
philosophy. This statement I make on the score of my 
past experience, which will bear any strength of asser- 
tion, as I will now proceed to show. 

What I now design to show is the fact that, while in 
the Superior Condition, there is nothing to hinder the 
mind from seeing into and reporting accurately the con- 
tents of books, &c, whether the works are present or 
not.* The ordinary theory of clairvoyance, viz., that the 
faculty is a deception — an hypothesis still entertained 
by those scientific and learned minds who have the 
misfortune not to be better enlightened — implies that 
a book, from which a clairvoyant quotes, must of neces- 

* The philosophy of this apparently preternatural endowment of mind 
will be amply explained in the author's Sequel to the " Philosophy of 
Spiritual Intercourse," to be issued in a few days. Partridge & Brittan, 
publishers, New York. This Sequel will contain several pictorial illustra- 
tions, and is considered a full explanation of modern mysteries. 



98 

sity be within the scope of his physical eyes. During 
the past few years my mind has been not a little amused 
with the editorial and other criticisms which have as- 
serted that I must have read this and that book, in order 
to procure certain thoughts exhibited in the Lectures. 
Certain coincidences between the " Vestiges of Crea- 
tion " and my impressions of the development of geol- 
ogy — certain similitudes of thought and expression 
between the "Writings of Swedenborg" and my own, 
on several theological points — have led some persons 
very naturally to the most external and thoughtless solu- 
tion of clairvoyance. Now, the truth is, the peculiar 
labor — always inexpressibly pleasurable — which I feel 
interiorly called upon to perform, is totally inconsistent 
with the perusal of works of different authors. The 
desire to read is completely swept from my mind by the 
constant influx of thoughts through the interior. But 
now, I confess, when I quote from authors before seeing 
their works, a desire springs up — a species of curiosity, 
with a wish to have external corroborative testimony — 
to examine the references for myself; and I invariably 
find my quotations correct. And yet I desire it always 
understood that I lay no claim to infallibility of percep- 
tion. Because it is possible, where impressions of several 
authors flow in at the same moment,* that I might give the 
wrong author credit of certain facts and quotations. A case 
of this description, however, has never come to my knowl- 
edge. There is much of the highest interest in this depart- 
ment of my experience ; but I cannot now stop to record it. 

* For instance : while writing on the theory of storms, the thoughts of 
various authors came before me whenever there was a coincidence between my 
impressions and their own external observations, — Hutton, Humboldt;, 
Lewy, Gay-Lussac, Dumas, Murry, Peltier, Dove, Lafeldt, Strabo, and 
others, — whose books I have never read. 



99 

And I am persuaded that the reader will bear with nie in 
saying what I have, especially when I accompany it with 
a partial promise never again to occupy my pages with 
sketches of merely personal experiences to remove misap- 
prehensions. 

In order to show that the spiritual eye can read man- 
uscript, without any outward contact, I introduce the 
following attestation : 

" And what is remarkable, although I had my manuscripts with me, 
from which I wished to propose certain queries relative to the correctness 
of my interpretation, I found I had no need to refer to it, as he was evi- 
dently, from his replies, cognizant of its entire scope from beginning to 
end, though all the time closely bandaged, and unable to read a word by 
the outward eye. This will appear incredible, but it is strictly true. I had 
no occasion to refer to a single sentence in my papers ; for it was evident 
that he was in possession of the whole, though he had not seen a line of 
what I had written, nor had previously known of the fact of my writing at 
all."* 

From an article originally published in the New York 
Tribune^ by the author of the above extract, the reader 
may glean still more evidence that, when certain coinci- 
dences occur in my lectures or works, it does not neces- 
sarily follow that my outward senses have had physical 
contact with the books in which these coincidences exist : 

" I confess myself to have taken a deep interest in this development from 
the outset, principally from its obvious relations with the psychological 
disclosures of Swedenborg, apart from which I am confident it can never 
be explained, but in connection with which the solution is easy and obvious. 
The modus of this it is not my purpose at present to dwell upon ; whoever 
forms an acquaintance with Swedenborg, will soon find himself on the 
track of solving not only this, but all other psychological problems. My 
object is to advert to a particular passage in the Lectures, and examine its 
bearings upon the question of the source from which the information given 
by the so-called ' Clairvoyant ' was derived. On p. 587 he has entered 
into a detailed and very accurate analysis of one of Swedenborg 's scien- 
tific works, entitled ' The Economy of the Animal Kingdom,' in 2 vols. 8vo. 

* Extracted from an interesting work, entitled "Mesmer and Sweden- 
borg," p. 179, by Prof. George Bush. 



100 

He gives a minute account of the scope of each volume ; and he could not 
•well have been more correct, had the volumes been open before him for the 
express purpose of exhibiting a summary view of their contents. The 
Lecture containing this passage I heard read shortly after its delivery. It 
struck me as very remarkable, as the work in question had but recently 
arrived in this country ; and I was confident, from various reasons, that 
neither Mr. Davis nor his associates could have seen it. I put several 
interrogatories on this head, and received the most positive assurance that 
they had not only never seen it, but had never even heard of it. And, as 
a proof of this, on the part of the scribe, he remarked that he had noted 
the word l Economy ' as probably a mistake, as he had heard of a work of 
Swedenborg's, entitled simply ' The Animal Kingdom,' which was trans- 
lated and published in English a year or two before, though he had never 
seen it. Yet this he supposed to be meant. 

" My acquaintance with those gentlemen was sufficient to satisfy me 
that their disclaimer on this score was entitled to implicit belief; but, as I 
was aware that this would not be enough to satisfy others, I at once deter- 
mined to institute an inquiry the result of which should put the matter 
beyond all cavil. I saw clearly that if it could be shown that this young 
man had given a correct account of a work which neither he nor his asso- 
ciates had ever seen or heard of, it must be a strong point gained toward 
confirming the truth of his general claim to preternatural insight, for the 
establishment of which I was indeed anxious, but yet as subordinate to a 
still higher interest. 

" I accordingly wrote to Mr. 0. Clapp, bookseller in Boston, whom I knew 
to be the only person in this country who imported Swedenborg's scientific 
works from England. They are there published, not by individual enter- 
prise, but by an Association, from whom all the copies ordered from this 
country are consigned exclusively to Mr. C. I requested him to give me 
from his books, as far as possible, a detailed account of the disposal of 
every copy he had sold, as my object was to ascertain if any one of them 
could be traced to a point where it would be likely to fall into the hands 
of Mr. Davis or his companions. Mr. C. immediately replied, informing 
me of the number of copies he had imported, which was not large, as the 
book is costly, and the demand limited mostly to Swedenborg's adherents, 
and also of the direction which nearly every one had taken. Of these there 
were, in all, nine copies sent to this city to Mr. John Allen, of which all 
but three or four were disposed of to purchasers abroad. Of those that 
remained in the city, every one can be traced to individuals who will at 
once testify that they have never been purchased, borrowed nor consulted, 
by Mr. Davis or his friends. I have made diligent inquiry on this head, 
and am perfectly satisfied that it is morally impossible that either of these 
gentlemen should have had access to any one of the copies owned in New 
York. 

* Still, I am perfectly aware that this statement will not, of itself, avail 



101 

to overcome the rooted incredulity that opposes itself to such a demand 
upon faith. I now propose, therefore, to put this matter to a much more 
summary test, by applying a magnet of the highest potency in drawing 
out truth, as well as other things, from all weaker affinities. I am au- 
thorized to make a bona fide offer of $500 to any person who will produce 
a single iota of evidence, properly substantiated, that the work in question 
was ever seen, heard of, consulted or in any way employed, by either of 
the gentlemen above mentioned, up to the time of the delivery of said lec- 
ture by A. J. Davis. I simply demand that such evidence shall be clearly 
and unequivocally made out ; and I pledge myself, upon the truth of an 
honest man, that the above sum shall be punctually paid over, in the pres- 
ence of witnesses, to the person who, on the condition specified, shall come 
forward and claim it. 

" I can conceive nothing more fair or decisive than this proposition. If 
this book has been used for the purpose, it must have been obtained of 
somebody. It is not easily conceivable that such axf one, if knowing to the 
fact, should have any motive for withholding it sufficient to counterbalance 
the inducement held out in the present offer to divulge it. A refusal to 
impart the information sought, by any one who possesses it, can scarcely 
be anticipated, except upon the ground of complicity in a grand scheme of 
imposture, which has been entered into by a knot of unprincipled men, 
with the view to palm upon the public a work charged as being of a 
' directly undisguisedly infidel character.' But who are these men? Who 
can be named as possessing a copy of Swedenborg's work that would be 
likely to lend either it or himself to such a contemptible piece of chica- 
nery 1 Could such a man have any motive for this that would not be apt 
to yield to the certainty of pocketing the proffered reward ? Has he more 
than five hundred dollars' worth of interest in bolstering up a pitiable 
delusion, which will be sure to be detected in the end, and cover with in- 
famy the heads of all concerned ? For myself, I am satisfied that there is 
not a copy of the ' Economy of the Animal Kingdom ' in the city but is 
in the hands of those who have the profoundest respect for Swedenborg 
as a philosopher and a moralist ; and no such man could be, knowingly, 
an accomplice in a scheme of pretended ' revelation,' the scope of a large 
portion of which is directly contrary to Swedenborg's teachings. What 
supposition more absurd ? If it be said that such an one might have come 
into the junto without knowing precisely what would be the issue, or what 
use would be made of his Swedenborgian contribution, the fact is now 
palpable ; he is undeceived, and what should prevent him from exposing 
the outrageous fraud, especially when he can spread the plaster of a $500 
note over the sore of his chagrin ? 

The truth is, this whole supposition is incredible to the last degree. 

There is not a person in the community, who owns a copy of Swedenborg's 

1 Economy,' that could think for a moment of prostituting the book or 

himself to such a despicable fabrication ; and I repeat, that the book is not 

9* 



102 

to be found except with those who entertain sentiments in regard to this 
great and good man that would utterly preclude connivance at any clandes- 
tine procedure of the kind supposed. Should the offer now made — and 
which is made in the most positive good faith — fail to elicit any response 
contradictory to the assumption of the book, I would submit to every can- 
did mind whether there does not arise from this source a powerful con- 
firmation of its general claims. I do not say that such, considered in its 
self, is absolutely decisive. But it must surely be granted that it affords 
a strong proof of a collateral kind. The numerical count of probabilities 
is vastly on the side of the theory that the work in question has not been 
seen, if a generous premium fails of bringing to light the least evidence to 
the contrary ; and yet, if the assumption stands good, what an astounding 
power is here developed ! What cannot a mind bring forth, which is thus 
enabled to declare the contents of books never read or seen ! 

" On the whole, then, I venture the assertion that but one conclusion 
can finally be rested in in regard to the circumstance I am now consider- 
ing. — Young Davis has correctly analyzed and characterized a work which he 
had never read nor heard of. As this is directly claimed to be the fact, so 
it is, all things weighed, the solution which is attended with the fewest 
difficulties. No other than presumptive evidence can be adduced against it, 
nor will any other be attempted." # 

In concluding this brief sketch of my mental habits, I 
may add that any amount of external testimony can be 
of no possible consequence to the successful accomplish- 
ment of the glorious work which I see before me to do. 
There are prison-doors to unfasten; chains to knock 
off; slavery to be annihilated ; intemperance to banish ; 
injustice to overcome with good ; error to uproot and 
destroy ; bigotry to be buried ; and there is health to 
spread abroad over the earth ; and freedom to secure ; 
and goodness to disseminate ; and universal justice to 
distribute throughout all the earth ; — and so, with all 
this work before me, in which the reader should heartily 
join, it will not do for me or my friends to turn aside to 
meet the pugnacious scepticism which is created by such 

* See the New York Tribune of June, 1847, and still other testimony 
published in that year. 



io: 



a marvellous train of incidents as necessarily grow out 
of the new age with its glorious illuminations. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF WEAEING THE BEARD 
AND MUSTACHIOS. 



The miscellaneous topics and objects to which this 
publication is devoted — being political, ecclesiastical, sci- 
entific, explanatory, with special reference to the philos- 
ophy of becoming truly a Harmonial Man — render the 
subject now presented quite apropos and legitimate. 
"The Philosophy of Wearing the Beard " was written 
several months since, and' appeared originally in The 
Hartford Times. This will account for the familiarity 
of style, being adapted to the columns of a daily paper, 
which is destined almost invariably to meet with a super- 
ficial perusal. 

There is a wide-spread prejudice against an individual 
who obeys -the law* of nature so particularly as to allow 
his beard to grow, unmolested and unshorn, as his organ- 
ization suggests and unquestionably demands. It requires 
no little independence in a man to violate an established 
custom of society, especially when, by pursuing such a 
course, so antagonistic, he brings down upon himself and 
companions the unmitigated ridicule of all time-serving 
and custom- worshipping minds. Our motto is, " Let 
Nature be true," though the whole world be wrong, and 



104 

opposed to her peaceful ways and harmonious reveal- 
ments. " Be just, and fear not." 

Six weeks ago I made what I consider to be a new 
discovery. It refers especially to the health, comfort and 
convenience of the male ; and, in order to be generally 
adopted, requires the approbative taste of the female. 
However, be this as it may, I respectfully submit the 
matter to the consideration of many and estimable read- 
ers, and consent to lend an open ear to the calm pro- 
nunciation of any number of oppositional reasons. 

I begin by affirming the perfect righteousness of Na- 
ture's Laws, on the ground that they originated in the 
very bosom of Holiness itself ; and that the constitution 
of Nature is equally perfect, — full of means adapted to 
ends, full of wise designs and harmonious proportions, 
and universally actuated and controlled by the omnipo- 
tent principles of Cause and Effect. In the develop- 
ments and accomplishments of the grand scheme of crea- 
tion there are no mere chance productions, though there 
are many incident alisms connected with the general sys- 
tem of creation ; such, for example, as the growth of 
warts on the human body, or fungous excrescences visible 
on the surface of trees. The reasoji why I term these 
things incidentalisms is this :' they do not uniformly ap- 
pear on these bodies, w T hich would not be the case, if 
they were essential in any manner to the proper develop- 
ment of the human organism, or to that of trees ; while,, 
on the other hand, those things which are essential to the 
welfare of these structural creations are uniformly visible 
upon or connected with them. 

Now, Mr. Editor, among the many invariable charac- 
teristics of the human form is the growth of hair upon 



105 

the face and head. Of course this peculiarity is more 
or less prominent with different temperaments and races 
of men. But it matters not how parsimonious or abun- 
dant the capillary developments of the face and head may 
be, it is nevertheless an evident ordination of the right- 
eous Author of Nature's laws, that those developments 
should remain, harmoniously and neatly cultivated, on 
the bosom of their native soil. 

Believing so, I think it to be a sin against light and 
knowledge to persist in perpetuating the barberous custom 
of shaving either the head or the face. It is an evident 
transgression of nature's laws ; and I dare not question 
the wisdom and righteousness of these laws, because I 
believe in the perfect omniscience and holiness of the 
Eternal Mind. 

But, Mr. Editor, this is not the new discovery to which I 
alluded. For the conviction has very probably come home 
to your own mind, especially while instituting or under- 
going the shaving process, that there is more of barbarism 
than civilization in the deed. My discovery refers par- 
ticularly to the ends which the beard and hair subserve 
in the human economy. That the capillaceous (or hairy) 
developments on the human body are the almost universal 
characteristics of the organism, is a very plain fact ; and 
that the Creator had some wise design in causing it to 
grow on various portions of the body, is also a plain 
matter of probability. But to be able to read this wise 
design aright, and thus to strengthen faith with knowl- 
edge, is to convert taste into duty, and supposition into 
principle. And he who can see the reason why God has 
placed the beard on the face and the hair on the head, is 
no longer in a state to consult the rules of capricious cus- 
tom, or to ask the public to sanction this or that ; be- 



106 

cause his mind is conscientiously sustained by knowledge, 
and he forthwith sees his duty as inseparably connected 
with a righteous principle. If I see satisfactory reasons 
for the existence and growth of hair on the human body, 
and also that I have been constantly Violating the will 
of Deity by shaving off from my face what he designed 
should appear and remain upon it, then I feel myself at 
liberty to consult neither taste nor popular custom, but 
to obey His will to the full extent of the knowledge in 
my possession. My position, Mr. Editor, is very sim- 
ple. I design, henceforth, to wear the mustache and 
beard, as also the hair which grows on the head, upon 
this ground, that I am acting in harmony with the right- 
eous ordination of Nature, — therefore acting from prin- 
ciple. 

But let us come to the point. The question is, Why 
has Deity placed the hair on the head and beard on the 
face ? Upon examination (conducted in accordance with 
an interior method for which I am known), I discovered 
that hair is simply the continuation of a system of capil- 
lary nerves and vessels ; that is to say, it was a wise 
design on the part of the Creator to provide certain por- 
tions of the human economy with a capillaceous substance 
which should subserve the purpose of not only protecting 
the parts from a too sudden contact with the external 
atmosphere, but also to conduct away from those parts 
the superabundant ether or volatile gases which accumu- 
late in them. The human body is wonderful, especially 
on the ground that there is such a harmonious combina- 
tion of beauty, strength, and utility, — ail concentrated 
and condensed into the smallest possible compass, with a 
very fair material and much lightness. Now, I perceive 
that the nervous systems, which are indispensable to cer- 



107 

tain functions in the head, and likewise to certain func- 
tions in the eyes and throat, are constructed so exqui- 
sitely fine and delicate that, unless they have something 
more than the mere cuticle or skin of the body to protect 
them, they would soon lose much of their delicacy, and, 
at the same time, do much towards deranging the equi- 
librium of the parts. Therefore, to prevent all this dis- 
order, the Deity has given to these nervous systems the 
tendency to create their own protection. Hence the 
capillaceous system of nerves in the head ultimate them- 
selves in hair on the external surface ; those nerves 
which commence in the eyes ramify downward into the 
upper lip, and there give rise to what is commonly 
termed the mustache ; and those nerves which commence 
in the neck, and originate from four ganglionic centres 
situated on either side of the bronchial organism, proceed 
outwardly, and ramify externally into what is generally 
termed the beard. 

Every hair is an extended nervous fibre ; and it de- 
pends very much upon the temperament of an individual 
whether the hair is abundant; — but its growth is the 
true rule of its utility. The arterial temperament pos- 
sesses these nervous systems in great abundance ; hence 
a luxurious growth of hair. And I find that those nerves 
which originate in the surrounding coating of the eye, 
and which ramify, in the male organism, in the mustache 
on the upper lip, run under the muscles of the cheeks, 
in the female, and have much to do in controlling the 
phenomena of blushing. You will acknowledge, I sup- 
pose, Mr. Editor, the truth of the saying that ladies are 
more capable of blushing than gentlemen ; for the former 
possess, deeply buried in the muscles of the cheek, the 
same capillaceous nervous system which, in the latter, 



108 

has ultimated itself in the mustache. Besides this, I 
find that these nerves which in the male give rise to the 
beard upon the angles of the face and underneath the 
chin, run downward in the female, and ultimate them- 
selves into mamm® organization, there controlling the 
lacteous secretions. Hence the female needs no beard. 
But the male does need it ; therefore he possesses it, and 
.he must be no transgressor of Nature's laws. 

But let us ask what injury does it do the organism to 
shave the mustache and beard from off the face ? I 
reply that, in accordance with the principles of physiol- 
ogy, the sclerotic (or hard) coating of the eye, as also its 
external or serous membrane, are protected and saved 
from dryness, weakness and irritation, by allowing the 
hair to remain upon the upper lip. Both the diseases 
known as ophthalmia and amarosis are traceable, in many 
cases, not to the exposure of the eyes, but to the ex- 
posure of the nerves of the upper lip to the changes and 
vicissitudes of the atmosphere. Men are more subject to 
these complaints than women. This fact is very signifi- 
cant ! Furthermore, many diseases of the head, throat 
and lungs, are prevented by wearing the beard. The 
shaving away of this protection is frequently the cause 
of bronchitis, chronic catarrhs, and pulmonary irritation. 
It was once — indeed, it is now — esteemed as very im- 
proper for clergymen and similar officials to wear the 
hair on the face which God has caused to \grow there. 
Therefore they shave constantly, and wear smooth faces ; 
but what is the consequence ? Why, they are all af- 
fected, more or less, with catarrhs, bronchial disorders, 
and weak, dry, husky voices. These things admonish 
them to cease violating the laws of health and nature ; 
but custom bears rule, and the people love to have it so ! 



109 

Now, Mr. Editor, you will readily understand that I 
believe it to be every man's duty to obey the laws of 
nature, just as faithfully in the wearing of the mustache 
and beard, as in obeying any other known physiological 
law of his being. As fast as we know what Truth is, 
we should embrace it and obey its dictations. He who 
desires to be righteous must endeavor to do right in all 
things. It may be considered just as wrong to cut and 
dress the hair as to shave it off; but this is a mistake. 
The design of the hair is to protect the nerves of the 
head, eyes, and throat. This object may be accom- 
plished, and yet the individual should cultivate rules of 
taste, propriety and cleanliness, in the style of trimming 
and manner of wearing all the hair with which nature 
has adorned his organism. No matter whether you have 
little or much, nor whether it be black, red, white or 
intermixed, it is still beautiful and proper, for God lives 
in Nature. The system of shaving is very barberous. 
It originated in Rome when the barbarians invaded the 
Empire ; it is a perpetuated and time-sanctified strata- 
gem, which a few monks originated ; — and, without 
designing the least disrespect to the dignitaries of the 
shaving profession, I cannot but regard the custom as a 
useless and preeminently barbarous one, calculated to 
produce disease, and to render fashionable a constant 
violation of the plainest principles of physiology. 



It seems to me that something more remains to be said 
on the subject. Evidently, at first sight, the matter 
under consideration does not appear to require any 
serious thought, inasmuch as by the public generally it 
is treated as mere matter of taste, wholly unconnected 
10 



110 

with any physiological principle of health or moral con- 
sideration. But, upon more sober reflection, you will 
readily perceive how intimately associated these capil- 
laceous productions of the organism are with a principle 
of use, or with a law of health and comfort, which be- 
longs to the- human physical economy ; hence, with 
morality. 

Therefore, in my own mind, I cannot place the wear- 
ing of the beard on the ground of mere taste, nor yet of 
comfort nor convenience, but wholly upon a natural and 
consequently righteous principle of physiology, which 
every reasonable man can very easily recognize. But, 
at first, I confess to a repugnance of taste on my own 
part to the wearing of the beard and mustache, until I 
saw, with my own understanding, the reason, why the 
Creator had given to the human form the peculiarities in 
question. Whiskers were made in the constitution of 
Nature, but razors were not. The same thing may be 
said of many other human inventions ; in fact, I think 
we are not half so enlightened upon many points of life 
as we shall be ; but, until the light comes, we may prac- 
tise faithfully what we do know. Now, I feel fully per- 
suaded that I know the reasons why the human form is 
adorned with the capillary nervous systems which give 
rise to the formation and growth of hair on the external 
surface ; and, being thus persuaded, how can I act, in 
order to be consistent, but in concord with the design 
which I feel the Creator had in view when laying the 
foundations of the universe ? 

I am perfectly aware, Mr. Editor, that the disciples 
of oriental authorities will find evidence that the beard 
was removed from the faces of certain holy men, even in 
the days of Moses. But the principles of physiology are 



Ill 

more ancient than these authorities, and I am more cer- 
tain that the former partakes largely of that higher ordi- 
nation which renders even a blade of grass a holy fact in 
creation. 

The love of beauty in the human mind may be sup- 
posed to set up a strong opposition to the anti-shaving 
creed. This I deem no authority ; for love must depend 
upon wisdom for direction and culture. Besides this, we 
have no standard of beauty by which to determine what 
is and what is not beautiful and natural for man. The 
Chinese, for example, considers it exceedingly vulgar 
and plebeian to have large or natural-sized and full- 
shaped feet ; the hair must also be exceedingly long and 
braided, hanging like a twisted rope down the back. 
And so, in all countries and among all races of men, you 
will find the general or conventional standard of beauty 
to be very different, and frequently antagonistic. Hence 
the question of beauty, in wearing the beard and mus- 
tache, is nothing, after all, but an uneducated, or rather 
unwise taste, which a goodly supply of judgment will 
very readily change into a harmonious acquiescence with 
the anti-barbarian philosophy. 

But there is a prejudice to the upper-lip beard, which 
I also confess to have entertained prior to the new dis- 
covery ; indeed, I may say that I am not yet wholly 
weaned from it, because I feel it to be well founded. 
That is, the disagreeable associations connected with 
those who have and do still (from a kind of empty and 
perhaps spurious taste) cultivate the beard and the mus- 
tache in a manner quite obnoxious to the feelings of 
sedate and retiring individuals. The foppish and super- 
ficial mind is very apt to encourage the fantastic display 
of whiskers, — mustachios, long, curled, and twisted 



112 

into unpleasant relations with the general form of the 
features, giving the beholder an idea of affectation per- 
sonified, and offensively intruded upon reserved and fas- 
tidious minds. The Broadway dandy is quite an objec- 
tionable creature in the estimation of our own modest 
and conservative countrymen. When we see one of 
these peculiar productions of superficial society, we are 
sure to see a head of exquisitely curled hair, glistening 
with a plentiful supply of " bear's oil, and "bearded 
like a pard," with a fantastically arranged mustachio, 
resembling the smellers of a Malta mouser, with an eye- 
glass dangling from his neck ; and, when he converses, 
we are almost certain to hear the recognizable intonation 
of a studied affectation, or of a fawning style of pronuncia- 
tion, which is almost invariably sure to remind us of 
that bold and upper-ten-dom resolution : " Phifty-Phour 
Phorty, or Phight!" This is a class of artificial and 
superficial beings that have (not from any love of truth, 
or from any desire to obey a purely physiological law of 
human nature) worn the whiskers and mustachios ; but 
wholly, I think, from a desire to attract attention, and be 
the subject of notoriety and of drawing-room discussion. 
Now, Mr. Editor, you will not allow this fact to deter 
you, I trust, from the adoption of a principle so plain in 
the catalogue of rules which pertain to comfort and lon- 
gevity. The foppish class in question — usually confined 
to the French, Spanish, and their American imitators — 
wear clothing, hats, &c, just as the most sanctimonious 
inhabitant does ; yet you never think of confounding the 
two characters. On the well-established principle, then, 
that a man is forever to be recognized in his deeds and 
deportment, you may adopt the anti-shaving system, and 
be wholly exempt from any righteously preferred charges 
of being a " Whiskered random*/' or of attempting to 



113 

render yourself conspicuous in the eyes of men. But 
you may fear the protestations of the ladies. Yet it is 
certain that, when the well-educated lady comprehends 
the reasons why we rebel against barberism, they will 
most fully approbate an independent course, and love the 
man the more when he practically unites taste and clean- 
liness with principle. 

But you may excuse yourself on the grounds of having 
shaved so long a time that it would be hard to bring your 
mind to neglect the habit. Now, this is by no means sat- 
isfactory. Go ! sin no more. We should always hold 
ourselves sufficiently independent of all conceivable hab- 
its (bad, or probably bad ones, I mean), to throw them 
aside the moment we see reasons for so doing. This, I 
trust, is my own position ; it is the only way in which a 
man can subdue evil, and overcome the world in himself. 

Many persons will object to wearing the mustache on 
the ground of inconvenience ; while the beard on the 
lower portions of the face is tolerated as being out of the 
way, and beneficial to the throat and bronchial organiza- 
tion. Now here, Mr. Editor, many can interpose their 
own personal experience, who have not the least diffi- 
culty in eating, nor in discharging any one of the nu- 
merous functions for which the mouth and the labial- 
surfaces are particularly adapted and designed. The 
ladies may rest perfectly assured on this head. If there 
be an attraction between souls sufficiently powerful to 
bring the male and female lips in conjunction, there are 
no barriers in the shape of mustachios which can prevent 
the necessary proximity; — that is, if the testimony of 
the " oldest inhabitant,' ' who has worn the full beard for 
twenty years, is worth anything as evidence in such a 
trial. 

10* 



114 

Other persons will object to the cultivation of the beard 
and the mustache, because they have deficient growths 
on the face, rendering the appearance quite unharmo- 
nious. But my way in such a case would be to adopt 
the principle practically, and let all the beard grow that 
would, using the scissors to keep it short and out of the 
mouth, and trimming it also in strict reference with what 
appeared becoming to my style of countenance. 

One point more. The disagreeable appearance of the 
beard when it first begins to grow is sufficient to make a 
modest man desire to flee all human society. But it is 
astonishing how soon he will forget his unpopular seeming, 
and return to society an altered man. I would have every 
one, who desires to become a Harmonial Man, to aban- 
don three things immediately,- — Tobacco, Rum, and Ra- 
zors. If the beard grows out hard and stiff, from fre- 
quent shaving, then all you need do to soften it, is this : 
Put equal parts of Scotch ale and sweet oil together, and 
cut them into perfect amalgamation with a sufficient quan- 
tity of alcohol to make the composition a thin fluid, and 
simmer it, with one ounce of fine-cut tobacco, for one 
hour. It may be perfumed, with anything preferred, 
without injury. When you brush your whiskers pour 
the fluid on the face of the brush employed, also rub 
this fluid on frequently with the palm of your hands. 
This will bring them out considerably more silky and soft 
than would be the case after practising shaving for years. 

But enough. I simply go for the practical application 
of the principle that " whatever is, is right/' in the 
great constitution of Nature. If a man is disposed to 
do right in one thing, he will be in another. The quicker 
we all abandon vices, and practise virtues, the more cer- 
tain are we of obtaining that happiness and joy of mind 
which the world can neither give nor take away. 



115 



WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? 



Is there one open-minded reader who does not deplore 
the cowardice of men, — deplore the absence of that 
commanding intelligence and humble independence of 
character which alone exalt man above the brute crea- 
tion ? The uncompromising advocates of nature's prin- 
ciples — where are they ? Shall we seek them in legisla- 
tive halls, or in the costly sanctuary ? Well-meaning 
men may be found everywhere ; in the private paths, and 
on the highways of life ; — but the well-doing men, — 
where are they ? Where is the man — the son of God 
— who has cast off the chains of bigotry and supersti- 
tion, who confides in his own instincts, thinks his own 
thoughts, and reveals the talents with which he is en- 
dowed ? 

We need more independence of soul, — not impudence 
or arrogance, but strength enough, courage enough, to 
do the bidding of our instincts, and rebuke the wrong 
which timidity generates ! Every sect in religion occa- 
sionally brings the advantages of education to bear upon 
some precocious youth. Some young man, though of 
plebeian origin, has the good fortune to wear a sadder 
expression than his mates, which is regarded by his 
religious sponsors as an evidence of piety, — a native 
predilection toward " the man of sorrow," — and so it is 
concluded to send him to college to " study divinity ;" 
and then to the village pastor to study the art of physical 



116 



and moral imitation ! I say imitation, because every 
student, instead of learning the divinity of his own soul, 
and exercising the angelic attribute of giving faithful 
expression to the good and true within him, learns, on 
the contrary, the art of whining out his prayers, of echo- 
ing the thoughts of his leaders, of imitating the carpen- 
ter's saw, and living, in short, every way in contradiction 
to his own genius. 

Divinity-colleges, for these reasons, are not the friends 
of humanity. They do not encourage the free expres- 
sion of the good and the true within every heart. They 
lead the young man to become a perfect imitation, — to 
follow the example of some religious chieftain, — to em- 
ploy his " ten talents " as tools to work with, not as so 
many angel voices bidding the soul " be spontaneous, be 
confiding, and free ! " So the divinity- colleges, instead 
of encouraging the young man to rise above the sectarian 
crowd, — to trust his own wings in flying from thought 
to thought over the customs and traditions of the world, 
— they are institutions for manufacturing " echoes/' 
They convert the students into so many hand-organs, 
constructed upon principles so extremely accurate and 
rigid as to insure, whenever the crank is turned, the same 
old groans and time-serving melodies. 

The mind thus educated strives to write as the schools 
have taught, as custom dictates, as the sect requires. It 
echoes the immortal sentiments of Dr. All-Eight, Dr. 
Solomon, — prays the prayers of the church ; and so it 
stammers, and makes no free expression. Nature made 
us individuals, as she did the flowers and pebbles ; but 
we are afraid to be peculiar, and so " our society resem- 
bles a bag of marbles, or a string of mould candles/ ' 

Nature teaches us a universal language. It is neither 



117 

Greek nor Hebrew, neither is it the dialect of any 
particular latitude or spot on the map ; but it speaks to 
the honest, true heart, wherever it chance to be beating. 
It tells the same truths in ten million ways. 

There is not a semi-tone in love, there is not a shade 
of color, a warbling bird, a whispering pine, a babbling 
stream, or star in the sky, which does not tell the soul, 
" Be spontaneous, be confiding and free ! " The rose per- 
fumes the air with its own fragrance ; every tree brings 
forth its own fruit ; every star shines in the midst of its 
own glory, — so the stupidest intellect has a beauty pe- 
culiarly its own ! That beauty, though various in degree, 
is identical in kind with the highest. The difference 
between men is more external than actual, — more in 
development than in essence. The commonest mind is 
full of thoughts, — thoughts worthy of the rarest genius, 
— which do not flow into the harness of diction, gram- 
mar and orthography, but break forth in fresh sounds and 
unexpected directions, as water when pressed from its 
old channels. 

Of all principles requiring strength and independence 
of character to maintain, there is none more conspicuous 
than the principle of integrity to one's own nature. "Who 
is strong enough to be true to his instincts ? — independ- 
ent enough to be the exponent of the spirit of God within 
him ? Who among you has the magnanimity to live just 
as the " still small voice" and the angels tell you to 
live ? You desire the work of reform to go forward, but 
who amongst you has the courage — feels the sublimity 
of that philanthropic enthusiasm — to die on the cross 
of some persecution, in order that the work may pros- 
per ? Have we the independence of nature, — that is, 
the true representation of our own condition without 



118 

duplicity, — being natural at all times ? Do we yearn 
for love, let us be loving ; do we yearn for reformation, 
let us be reformed ; do we yearn to free mankind from 
discord and wrong, let us be free ! 

" What will people say ? " Yea, and so it is, we no 
sooner leave corruption than, through the force of habit, 
like Lot's wife, we turn back to it ! Than this nothing 
more quickly petrifies the mind. A stone, once loosened 
from its mountain-bed, rolls down the acclivity faster and 
faster, till buried in the mud at the base. So he who 
would not forego some personal luxury, abolish some per- 
sonal habit, for the sake of reform, but turns away into 
the deep currents of popular injustice, in order to escape 
the odium of being peculiar, and to enjoy mere selfish 
plans of pleasure, he goes deeper and deeper into the 
mine of ignorance and vice, and retards the work he 
would have go forward. When a reform movement be- 
comes positive, then this time-serving, "well-wishing " 
man comes forth, and declares, " He always thought just 
so," and takes hold with the enthusiasm of a " new con- 
vert," now that the work requires no more martyrs, and 
helps the cause which helps him ! This class is very 
numerous. But the uncompromising advocates of na- 
ture's principles — where are they? Where are the 
minds who advocate the intrinsic goodness and royalty 
of every man ? Where is the man, or class of men, who 
regards every individual as a sovereign in his own soul, 
a genius in his own way, a child of God, destined to 
enjoy the joys of the spiritual universe ? The dying- 
Quaker said, " There is a spirit I feel which delights to 
do no evil, to revenge no wrong, but delights to endure 
all things, in hopes to enjoy its own unto the end. Its 
hope is, to out-live all wrath and contention, and to 



119 

weary out all exaltation and cruelty, or whatever is of a 
nature contradictory to itself! It fears no evil in itself, 
and so conceives of none in any other. If befriended, it 
is humbled with gratitude. I see the end of all tempta- 
tion — 

' For I do see a change, 
All rainbowed in the far-off future time, 
When men shall stamp their demon creeds to dust, 
And know the Evangel in its very heart, 
Regardless of the form.' " ' 

So true minds look upon men and things. The indi- 
vidual triumphs over wrong, and comes out purified at 
last, like gold, all the better for the trial. 

But who has the courage of soul to say he believes it ? 
— still more, the independence to live his nature out ? 
Some truth, perhaps some fragment of life, wells up from 
within, demanding utterance. "What will people say 2 " 
Perhaps you belong to the church, but your spirit o'er- 
leaps the rigid formality thereof, and feels like dancing. 
" What will people say ? " Perhaps you feel like burst- 
ing away from your sectarian bonds, and doing your own 
thinking. "What will people say?" Perhaps you 
have found out a new way to human happiness, through 
the paths of organic liberty and attractive industry, or by 
other paths. " What will people say ? " 

" Be noble ! for the nobleness that lies 
In other men, sleeping, but never dead, 
Will rise in majesty to meet thine own." 

Intrinsically and essentially, there is no difference be- 
tween human beings ! All visible inequality and variety 
arise from different combinations of the same powers and 
attributes. In the great constitution of nature there are 
no masters, no slaves, no favorites of God, or beings be- 
yond the circle of his love. And who are you, — you, 



120 

who live in parlors, consume the richest viands, decorate 
your bodies with fine linen, and go in your coaches to 
church on the Sabbath ? And who are they who live in 
dark kitchens, who sleep in narrow rooms, who prepare 
your clothing and food, while you are praying to the 
throne of God ? " 0, we are rich ; we can afford these 
things ; we are favored ! And they are poor ; they 
must remain where the Creator placed them ; the poor 
shall never cease out of the land." Of all living things 
thou art alone made capable of blushing. The world 
shall yet read thy shame upon thy face ; thy brow shall 
bear the " mark " of every joy thou hast murdered ! 

I know this law by heart! In my most elevated mo- 
ments, I see how mathematically certain every act is 
followed by its legitimate consequences. There 's no 
escape. For man is both individually and morally im- 
mortal ! Every volition of mind remains forever, en- 
graved in readable characters upon something. In the 
various relations subsisting between man and Nature, I 
know of no compromise policies, no actual atonement, no 
possible way to escape the plain results of life. The gar- 
ment of materiality, which now subsists between us and 
the spiritual, will one day drop off. Then we shall read 
the book that we have written. For we are all authors. 
We write books. Every day opens a fresh leaf in some 
heart, on which we trace some line of thought, — make 
some impression thereon which can never fade away. 

In the street there goes a hungry, lean-faced, hollow- 
eyed, sharp-looking man — more dead than living. How 
came he to exist ? Whence his origin ? His aspect is 
villanous, his sphere repulsive, his eyes look downward 
and treacherous. How came he so constituted ? Think 
you that that man is personally responsible ? Did he make 



121 



himself? An angel's tongue can alone describe the ten 
thousand discords — parental, social and religious — 
which entered into the conceptive essences that formed 
that human soul ! His eyes full of subtlety, his forehead 
retreating, his motions a perpetual insult to the laws of 
grace. Behold in all a grave-yard. His eyes the gates 
through which we enter ; his forehead the tomb of pa- 
rental ignorance, the dormitory of social wrongs, oper- 
ating on his mother prior to his birth. He is a book, — 
the compilation of the thoughts and habits of several au- 
thors ; the mother compiled it. But nobody heeds the 
repulsive wretch, — no one acknowledges the chapters he 
wrote on him. The nation sees none of its wrongs and 
injustices incarnated, and walking in the noon-day sun ; 
nay, all pass by, glad to escape the contaminating pres- 
ence, wondering, like good believers in the old theology, 
what stupendous providence or object the Lord must have 
had in his creation ! And that poor, villanous, mur- 
derous wretch, that case-hardened, godless, unconverted 
conscience, is surely going to the realms of destruction. 
Art thou quite sure ? Take heed ; judge not ; only the 
sinless can throw stones. 

That man is immortal. He did not make the first res- 
olutions which took effect upon his after life, which cut 
their channels deep into his conscience ; but some exter- 
nal discord made them for him, — perhaps an unkind 
word, a treacherous act, a bad example, a blighting habit, 
communicated to his mind by parents, associates, or the 
nation. Ignorance is a pregnant source. Her children, 
at first shadows and fanciful imaginings, finally grow to 
muscular thoughts. Thoughts find words, words become 
habits, walking when we walk, speaking when we speak ; 
they dine with us, praise our stupidity, approbate deeds 
11 



122 



of cruelty, and tell us that " we are not our brother's 
keeper.' ' They even flatter Christians, telling them that 
certain creeds and forms of faith will save the soul, that 
sins can be obliterated by the concentrated suffering of a 
single human being, that our implicit credulity is alone 
required to secure a heavenly state. Meanwhile, igno- 
rance tells us to shun the evil man. Let him get his own 
bread and clothing as best he can ; only let us punish 
him if he steal from our larder ; let us murder him if he 
kill his brother ; yet, " let us pray" for his conversion, 
— let us pray that God will take mercy on that deformed, 
villanous soul, and give it. a seat, at last, among " the 
just made perfect !" 

Let us learn a parable. When the young tree was 
planted by the road-side, the careful planter put a strong 
frame around it, shielding it from the blast of the hurri- 
cane and common dangers. A few years rolled by, and 
the young tree stood strong and firm, straight as an arrow, 
its boughs spread out in diverse ways, loaded with foliage, 
fragrant and fair, sheltering both man and beast from 
storms and noon-day heat, the bower of singing birds, 
the "lute" of the evening zephyr. 

Another planter, less wise than the other, and there- 
fore less careful, planted another young tree, the brother 
of the first, at the same time, in the same neighborhood. 
He placed no protection about it, but left it to the 
strength of its own spine. The beasts of the fields pulled 
away its first buds ; the bounding boy cast his weight 
upon it ; the tempest twisted it in all directions, and so it 
leaned over, asked the ground for help, and receiving 
none, began to wither away. But the surrounding vege- 
tation, seeing the poverty and debility of the young tree, 
fading when it should have been redolent with beauty, 






123 

they sent in contributions of moisture and liquids, and 
forthwith it took fresh encouragement, and tried to live 
like the neighboring tree. It tried to look cheerful, to 
stand up straight, to throw the mantle of beauty over its 
delicate buds, to breathe forth a soft loveliness, to attract 
the wayfaring man and the beast to repose beneath its 
shade. But no, no, — it could not do anything like this, 
for its exterior was coarse, irregular, deformed ! It 
wanted love ; but, alas ! it lived in a world of sensuality, 
and so could receive neither proper sympathy nor respect. 
Instead of love, it received abuse ; stones for bread ; 
the winds whistled no song among its boughs, but 
screeched at them, whining out the solemn dirge of 
death. Birds hastened by ; the storms of winter froze 
their icy fetters upon its tender arms ; its head was des- 
titute of clothing ; the life-blood had flown, drop by drop, 
into surrounding forms, and so it drooped and died. 

When the tree dies from neglect, there remains no 
history of its wrongs, or joys, or sorrow. But man never 
dies. Every man shall meet every man, face to face, 
heart to heart, in the spirit land. All injustice is to be 
first examined, then understood, then acknowledged, 
then forgotten. A bad deed lives within us, or within 
others, till love is kindled upon the soul's altar, on the 
mount of wisdom, in whose flame all wrong is utterly 
consumed. 

Are we independent enough to believe fully in the laws 
of cause and effect ? If so, are we enough natural to 
live consistently with this belief? We depend upon no 
traditions. Chaldean fables and Persian tales live in the 
testaments as sacred revelations. They appeal to our 
credulity, not to our reason. Have we the independence 
to think and say so ? — " What will people say % " 



124 

The spirit of nature — the divine being — has revealed 
to us the character of his religion. There is perfect 
Freedom in it ! Nothing looks monotonous. There is no 
long-face dness and hypocritical sanctimoniousness about 
it ! In his universally published creed, the Creator 
declares himself to be no gloomy Quaker or Orthodox. 
Instead of clothing creation uniformly in a drab dress, 
giving it a dismal expression, foreboding evil, he has 
bedecked the hills and dales with variegated loveliness, 
and placed a crystal on the breast of the granite mountain ! 

The Deity is the crystallization of all principles ! 
Justice and joy, peace and progress, beauty and endless 
loveliness, dart off from the common focus, — and so the 
Deity declares the superlative grandeur, the boundless 
universality, of his spirit and its religion ! He cannot, 
with such attributes, be eternally conscious of the exist- 
ence of a blazing pandemonium, just beyond the bound- 
aries of his all-glorious dominion ! " What will people 
say?" 

No matter what, — let us be true to the gospel of na- 
ture ! "A house divided against itself cannot stand." 
Fables may contradict each other, but the poles of the 
universe must be in eternal accord. We may, therefore, 
say that Deity cannot use the -eternal destruction of the 
poor, unfortunately organized wretch, and yet send forth 
principles of love and beauty into this world, causing 
souls to love each other, birds to sing the songs of glad- 
ness, and the fields to teem with blushing luxuriance ! 
Nay ; a contradiction so stupendous — an absurdity so 
gorgeously constructed — is a philosophical impossibility ! 
The laws of love — the soul of God — in man stand up 
like the ascending Alps, in monumental resistance to hor- 
rors so unutterable. For if there were a hell in the neigh- 



125 

borhood of heaven (as our well-meaning clergy assert), 
containing but one — just one — 'lost soul, we know 
(granting the Lord to be unable to save) that the angels 
in heaven — our departed brethren — would weep tears 
enough to extinguish the fires of hell \ and that, upon 
the swelling bosom of an ocean thus formed, that once 
lost soul would rise triumphantly into the courts of 
heaven ! 

We believe all this, do we not ? Assuredly. Then 
why not have the independence to assert it ? 

" 0, we do not wish to be too severe upon the preju- 
dices of the people. They honestly think so, and we 
wish to treat them gently.' ' In other words, "What 
will people say ? " 

But observe ! Have the people any right to stifle the 
voice of truth within you ? How many thousands of 
joys have the clergy murdered ? How many prejudices 
do they severely shock ? How many young, confiding 
hearts have been wounded by the teachings of popular 
theology ? How many souls has it bowed down in 
slavery ? The young mind believes in no hell, in no 
devil, in no wicked men! It believes in no "mine and 
thine," — in no hypocrisy; but, as its faculties unfold, 
it reads goodness and God upon everything. Intuition 
weaves a garland around the heart. Every leaf, every 
flower, is gifted with a spell ! Shades are omens, dreams 
are signs ! But, alas ! " dog-days " must come. There 
is no escape, unless the parents be good enough to act 
according to nature. The young mind must be put in 
the pen, with those domestic animals known as catf-echism 
and dog-matism ! And the contact is contaminating to 
the last degree. 

11* 



126 

The catechism sings dreadful songs, purring every 
superstition in theology ; shedding a coat of every color. 

The dogmatism howls dismally about the sheep and 
goats ; teaches the young mind to hate one class, and 
love another. Indeed, this dog barks every Sunday ; 
and gives the young memory the first lessons in swear- 
ing ! The village pastor talks about the devil and hell ; 
shows how and upon what rigid laws of retributive jus- 
tice, God will damn the souls of certain persons ; and so, 
the child and the thoughtless man learn to employ the 
same terms and epithets, in the same emphatic, God-like 
manner as the minister of the gospel. " Ye. serpents, ye 
generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation 
of hell ? " From the New Testament alone you may 
find the entire vocabulary of the profane man, as well 
as illustrations of implacable wrath and retaliation, in 
imitation of which undeveloped minds get angry and 
swear. And when any clergyman preaches against the 
use of profane language, — a habit, like smoking and 
chewing, unfit for man, — would it not be well for him 
to look somewhat into its origin ? Let him show the 
people — no matter what they say — how children learn 
to swear ; and where, from what source of vengeance 
and retaliation, the disgusting words are drawn ! 

A kind word, spoken at the right moment, may prove 
the salvation of thousands. Provide thyself with this 
piece of gold. True words, real commiseration, some- 
times do more than money to save the erring. Straws 
frequently change the whole current of life. 

A notorious pirate, who had unfurled the flag of uni- 
versal defiance, and crimsoned the sea with the blood of 
many victims, drew near in spirit while I was writing 



127 

this, and related to me the following affecting cause of 
his earthly career. As he approached me a generous 
smile played upon his face, his eye was soft and mild in 
expression, and I felt him to be a missionary from the 
spirit-land to our earth. 

"lam qualified to teach,' ' said he, " for I have been 
to school ; no other can ! The most unrighteous judge 
of mankind is the sinless man ; for he judges without 
wisdom, not having learned in the school of experience.' ' 

" What have you to communicate ? " I inquired. 

" In all compassion," he replied, " I come to say that 
my progression has been much arrested by an application 
of Solomon's rule to me while in childhood." 

" How was this ? " I asked. 

" 0, how well I remember it ! " exclaimed he. " My 
nature was so full of love ! But I was a child, thought- 
less and free, bounding to and fro, filled to the brim with 
vitality, strong and vigorous in my disposition, yet docile 
under the words of affection, and yearned often for them ! 
But, withal, I was deformed in my features. The mirror 
gave me back a visage I could not love ; and my mother's 
eye, instead of glowing with the radiance of inward heat, 
returned to me the same cold reflection of myself. Then 
acid to this fact, that she was a firm disciple of the Scot- 
tish church, a believer in the depravity of infants, in 
using the rod for slight offences. She never encouraged 
me to tell the truth, nor to be kind, but smote me when- 
ever she imagined I did a wrong thing. My nature was 
strong in feeling, and never did the rod touch me without 
laying bare a wound in my spirit. These wounds were 
not allowed to heal ; but (for fear of c spoiling the child ') 
they were oft made to bleed afresh. Had it not been 
c my mother,' — the only being to whom I dared to look 
for love (my father having passed from earth), — I should 



128 

not have felt the rod deeper than the flesh. But it was 
my mother ! And we were poor and friendless ; but the 
preacher came to us sometimes, and never failed to ad- 
monish my mother not to spoil me ' with too much kind- 
ness.' And so she had the approbation of the minister 
for her treatment of me. But I could have withstood all 
this, had not my little heart been crushed at a moment 
when I supposed I had triumphed over the horrid tempt- 
ation to tell an important falsehood. In my sport, wild 
and thoughtless, and dared by my companions, I fired a 
small shed, near the house, for the excitement it would 
create in burning. The alarm was soon given, and the 
fire extinguished without doing harm. But my heart 
smote me for the deed, and that night I ventured to tell 
my mother, frankly, that I did it. Instead of bestowing 
love upon me for telling her the unwelcome truth, for 
conquering the temptation to tell a falsehood, for strug- 
gling to overcome a propensity to screen my guilt, — 
instead of Ipve, she, good Christian mother as she was, 
rose, in all the indignation of an offended Solomon, 
against me. The flower of truth, which I had presented 
her, she stamped to the earth. She deprived me of my 
food that night, confined me in a dark room till morn- 
ing ; then she smote me with her rod, and bade me do 
so no more. 0, could she have seen my inward spirit, 
the wounds already there, the fires of vengeance kindled 
on the altar of every feeling, whose leaping flames 
warmed my every faculty to vigor, she would have 
kindly received me, as *the father of Washington did his 
son. But I was disheartened, and angry with myself 
for having yielded to the weakness of telling the truth. 
A strange resolution came up within me to never try 
again. And the same day on which my mother thus 
wounded my spirit anew, I left my home and her, with 



129 

feelings and resolutions that made me a wolf turned loose 
upon my brother man ! Had I been of different mould, 
I might, perhaps, have remained at home, — a crushed, 
dejected, cheerless house-plant, as many who have ex- 
perienced similar treatment/' 

" Do you regret this now ? " I asked. 

"Not now," he replied; "but I have regretted it. 
For long years my mother remained on earth, after I had 
left it, mourning the loss of her son, and I could not comfort 
her. This was the source of my regret. The injury that 
was done to me, and which I, therefore, did to others, is all 
balanced and obliterated by the good which I can now do ! " 

" What good can you do ? " I asked. 

" What good ? " he exclaimed. " I can save hundreds 
from the treatment (and its consequences) which I expe- 
rienced, by relating to you this narrative/' 

Kind reader and all men, ye are immortal ! All are 
authors and publishers ! The books you write cannot be 
cast away, become obsolete and neglected ; but they are 
placed in the temple where angels go to school. If you 
write falsehoods upon any page in human life, if you do 
evil to the least degree, there is only one way to obliter- 
ate it, — " Overcome evil with good." This is always 
practicable ; because evil is the perverted form of good. 
Let truth and falsehood grapple ; let good and evil have 
their battle, for God reigns; — and so truth and good 
will ever come uppermost. But — 

"What will people say?" Be patient, friends of 
progression and development ; for, surely as I now write, 
the people will join in the chorus of our new song, and 
say, "0, we always thought so ! " 






PRICE THIRTY CENTS. 



fMggfte)® , 



^o 










HARMONIAL MAN: 



OR 



THOUGHTS FOR THE AGE 



BY 



ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 

AUTHOR OF " NATURE'S DIVINE REVELATIONS," " HARMONIA," ETC. ETC. 



Let our uneeasing, earnest prayer 
Be e'er for light, and strength to bear 
Our portion of the weight of care 
That crushes into dumb despair 
One half the human race." 




BOSTON: 
BELA MARSH, PUBLISHER, 25 CORNHILL. 

NEW YORK : PATRIDGE & BRITTAN. 
1853. 



U 




t,.s. 



t 



. — __ f 






£ * * 1 f * 






§00R$ 1 


d It 




fymtmlxm. 






BELA MARSH, 


N 


o. 25 CORNHILL, 




Has for sale a complete assortment of Book* and Periodicals devoted to the 


facts, philosophy, and advocacy of Spiritualism, which he will supply in 


any 


quantity, on the most favorable terms; apart of which are included in 


the 


following list, with the prices annexed, 


together with the rates of post 


age. 

Prioe. 


Postage. 




Price. 


Postage. 




Revelations, &C, by A. J. Davis, 






Signs of the Times : comprising a 






the Clairvoyant 


$2 00 


43c. 


History of the Spirit Rappings in Cin- 






The Great Harmonia, Vol. I.— 






cinnati and other places. Coggshall 


25 


5 


The Physician, by same .... 


125 


20 


Philosophy of the Spirit "World, 






The Great Harmonia, Vol. II — 






Hammond '. 


62 


11 


The Teacher 


1 00 


19 


The Spirit Minstrel; a collection 
of Hymns and Music, for the use of 






AUC X Dul/llOi ......... 

The Great Harmonia, Vol. Ill — 










The Seer 


1 00 


19 


Spiritualists, in their Circles and 
Public Meetings. By J. B. Packard 






The Philosophy of Spiritual In- 










tercourse. A. J. D 


50 


9 


aud J. S. Loveland 


25 


5 


Sequel to do 






The Science of the Soul, by 

Haddock 






The Philosophy of Special Prov- 






25 


5 


idences — A Vision. A. J. D. . . 


15 


3 


Spirit Manifestations : being an 






The Harmonial Man, by Davis 


30 


5 


Exposition of Facts, Principles, etc., 






The Approaching Crisis: being 






by Rev. Adin Ballou 


50 


10 


a Review of Dr. Bushnell's recent 






Spiritual Instructor: containing 






Lectures on Supernaturalism, by 






Facts and the Philosophy of Spirit- 






Davis -«.- 


50 


13 


ual Intercourse 


3S 


6 


Light from the Spirit World. 






The Spiritual Teacher, by Spirits 






Rev. Charles Hammond, Medium . 


50 


13 


of the Sixth Circle. R. P. Ambler, 






The Pilgrimage of Thos. Paine, 






Medium 


50 


7 


written through C. Hammond, Me- 






The Macrocosm and Microcosm, 






dium. Muslin, 75c, 12c. postage ; 


50 




or the Universe Without and the 
Universe Within, by William Fish- 
bough. Paper bound, 50c. ; muslin 






Elements of Spiritual Philoso- 






75 


12 


phy. R- P> Ambler, Medium . . 


25 


1 


The Philosophy of Mysterious 






Reichenbach's Dynamics of 






Agents, Human and Mun- 






TVrpsmfiritjm 


1 25 


20 


dane, or the Dynamic Laws and 
Relations of Man, by E. C. Rogers 






HXCOlilCl iO-LH ......... 

Pneumatology, by Stilling. Edited 






1 00 


20 


by Rev. George Bush 


75 


Ifi 


Mesmerism in India. 


75 


13 


Celestial Telegraph, by L. a. 






Messages from the Superior 






Cahagnar 


100 


19 


State, communicated by John 






Voices from the Spirit World. 






Murray, through John M. Spear . 


50 


8 


Isaac Post, Medium 


50 


10 


Spirit Voices. Odes dictated by 






Night Side of Nature — Ghosts 






Spirits for the use of Harmonial 






and Ghost Seers. By Catharine 






Circles. E. C. Henck, Medium. 






Crowe • 


1 2b 


20 


Plain bound, 38c. : extra bound . . 


50 


6 


Gregory's Lectures on Animal 






Familiar Spirits and Spiritual 






WTntmAtiGm . - . 


1 00 


IT 


Manifestations, by Dr. E. Pond, 
Professor in the Bangor Theological 






The Clairvoyant Family Phy- 










sician. By Mrs. Tuttle 


To 


10 


Seminary, together with a reply by 






Sorcery and Magic, by Wright . 


100 


19 


Albert Bingham 


15 3 

is, $3.00 


The Shekinah, a monthly Magazine, 


edited by S. B. Brittan. Tern 


per annum. 












The Spiritual Telegraph 


, 'a week! 


y Paper, also edited by Mr. 


Brittan. 


Price $2.00 per annum. 












The New Era, published by S. 


Crosl 


ry Hewitt. Price $1.50 per annum 





1 



c * 

< «c c < 
c <r« c c 



C C<( C 



^ < c C< 






- c c 



CCC «& 



c .< c 

C«t Ci c 

CC C 

« c< 

c< «_ 

c« c c 

se § < 

--. c< . 



c 

cr • c 

c < 
. <rc< < 

c c 

c c 

c * 

< c 



e?CC - 

<<r . « 

Ci<t< 

ccc 
CcC 

cc: 

- <~£ 

CCC 
CCC 

- crcc 

- CC < 

- : crc< 



c c 

c c 

c c 
dccc 
c c 
C Ct> 
c c 
c c 
c c 

C c 

c c 
cc 



cc 

Cc 

CC 

Z Ci 

" c c 

- CC ' 



cc. 
ccc 

ccc 

ccc 

CC C 

c« c 

C ,i « 

cr® c 
c c 
C < 
O « 
c 

C'C< 

cf£j 



<l:cc £. 
rcc c 
ice 

c crcc <J 



c « 

-r 5 

c C 

^ 5p 

C £ Ci 

c C 
c c 

c c 
c c 
C c 

c 

c 

c c a 

c g 

c C 
r C 



<rc_< 

C c 






CC 


^~t 




^; 




■CLS 




<^ c 


« 


<cr c 


CC 


^J 


<£l 


*£* 




ci<T^ 


'« 


«c 


<JC 


cc 


.<tjc 


<3 


<<dzL 


Cc 




<2 


c 


C 




c 



( ( 


.%< 


' C C <J*" 


C 




. ^,c 


<r c C 


c 




< *cC 


^ < C 


< 


c 


*- H^B < < K^y ** H^B^B 


r 


.<- «: 


c c c 


<: 


c 


< 


< <c 


< < c 

- s t t 


C 

< 


c 
c 


« 


-re 


C ', * 


< 


c 




<C 


cc<r- 


< 


c 


c 


<C 


cc<Ci 


c 
c 


c 

c: 


c 

c C 

C c 


<c 
<< 






C 


<cc 


<- < 


cr 


V- i> 


< «. ( c 


c < 


c 


( a 


c 




c 


c 




c. 

c 




c 


< 
<■ c 


C 


C 


ccc <J* 


c 


c 


C 


c , 




< 


« 


■ c 


c 


Ci < 


c 


r c: 


C « 


c 


c: 


€L 


c « 


c 


< 


f < 


« <r 


,c < 


c 


< ' 


C <■' 


<L 


< << 


c 


C Cv. 


<L 


c< ^ 


c 


r C 




<r < 


<c 


,C7VC 


c 


( ( 


i C ' 


< <; 


C ^ 


cr 




( <r « 


c <: 


C c 


c 


< 


cC < 


( «c 


c ^ 

c: ' c 


c 
c 
c 


.cr < 


c C 

< 


c 


c 


cc 


( 4 


C 


c C 

c 
c 


cC 

cc 


c <i 
C ^ 


C c: 




rC 


c c 


cr c- c 
c: c c 
c: o < < 


< c 
CC 

ccr 

<- < 


< c 


c 
cr 


' 


c 
c 


exf 

cC 
cc 


( c 

c< c 

C < 


c 

c 
c 


c < 

< 


<- 

c 

c 

c 


<c 
cc 
cc 


* 


c 




cc 


C < 


c 
cr 


C r - 1 
C/ « 


cr 


CC 

«.c 


CC 

c - 


cr 
cr 

c 

( cr 




c c 
5 


<c 

< c 
cC 
(C 


C C 

c 
c < 

C. v 


^r 


c ^ 

Ci c 


c 


cr<- 


c 


c 


c cr 


cr r 


<- c 


cC 


c. < 


c 


<c-c 




1 < 


c 


c 
~ c 


4T ' 




c 
c 


fi 


- ^ 




c 




4cT c 


c c 

c 


*r < 


v V 


c 

c 


^1 c 

«r^ c 


c 


^- : i 


* c 


c 


^ < 




^c<C 


« < c 


-C 


r^ < 


c 




<< c 


c < 


^ « 


c 

c 

, c * 


l^gM 




. c * 
c < 
c < 






c: ^ 

^ c <C' 
"CCC 


: <:-c 

c:;^ c • 


c < 




<- V 


^ c <t~* 


«: c 


c > 


cC 


« 5 


1 


r <1 c 


c < 


#*^ 


t ^ 


t CJL 


•crrc 


c < ^ 


cc 
CC 


> ^i 




<.:<■ 


c ^ V 


rC 


( -<i 


=" <: C 

c <r 

c 


r ^rc 
«Lc 


c C 

C C 

c C 

< c 


C4T 


< ^ 


« <r. 


S 


<sr 


^ 




c ^ 


or 

. cc 


<i 


< cc 


-C c 


c c 

< 

c 


^: 


* <- <x 


o ^^ 


<ac 


( CT 




c ^^ 


c C« 


- c <r_ 




^» — ^- - ^ 


C; : 


d 




c <€Tc 


■ 




<r 




a 


c c 


Vm 






«: c 


dfJt 



c <r c 
c c: 



<~ «r 


r ■<■ < 


cr c 


C <■ C 


r c 


c& c 


c c 


O- c 


c c 


c ,« C 


c c 


c <>■ 


cv c 


C < C< 


c c 


c cj 


c c 


£ ^ 


c c 


c CC 


*-?. *-,- 


*T ' c c 



c 
c 


cc 


C C ' 

C C ' 


5* <3 c cc 
c: <3 c cc 


c r 


cC 


CC 


d O ( <r. 


< '< 


c 


< c 


^L_.cc c cc 


< 


<<L CC 


«CL_< c c< 


c 


. 


«^- c 


C «3C , 


= 


< < 




c cr <- < 


' 


<-• 


£ c c 


<■ ■■( 


<-ir 


c c 


C< ■' c c c< 




■«? 


<rc 


cr c ■ c <c 


. 


CO 


CC 


r<r c c cc 


1 




<: c 


CC < t cc 


CC 




« < 


ICjC 


<c cc.c< 


' 


<rT 


^5" c 


c<- C< f f 


4 

cr 


* cr 
cr 


c 
C 


c? ■ C " 

Ct < C << C 

cr cr cc C 


c 

C 

C" 


c: 

d 


C 
C 

C 


<<,<(( c 
cc rccc C 

cr* r cc #r 



cc 


c c 


cc 


t C 


<3C 


C c 


c <C 




< ^c 


c ^ 


c c 


S-- 


C f 


^ 


( c 


cc ^ 




cr ^ 




<rc ^ 


cc 


cC ^ 




c ^ 




^ ^ 


* 


<- - 


■— ^ 


c - 


C ' ' 


c « 


C 



V C( < 


^r 


c; <Z 


c c 


v * — ' 
C *^- 

r <rr c 


C_< 
" C c 


c <c 


C "< 


c c < 


< < 
CCC 


-■,<t c- 


<L C 

CC 


c C C 


c < 


•c. 


C( 


c^< 


~/*L 


C <^L 


«c C 


c c c: 


c c 


<c 


c r 


c c ' id 

< c C 


C C 


«Z 1 


cc 


c <: • 


CC 


c <s vec: 


c 


c ^c 


< "r 


:(C <C 


c < 


c cc: 


CC 


'"- c «c 


c 


C cc 


cc 


r°"~c_< «< 


- C 


c << 


<r< 


^ : C (CC- 


<t 


C <C 


LCc 


^ . c cC- 
jrr c « 


c 


c ^< 
c: « 


^ c? 



c_ 


' *L ^ 




=- 


<c 


- *<r « 


- ^T 


" dC 


•*- 

c 


= 2 ^ 




~3t 


c 


^ ^ 


t C 




c 




* : r C 


^% 


c 


^ s 


^n c 


<^£ 


c 

c 


*? . 5 


- c 


~ '4ZZ. 


4d< j^ 


'" c 


dEC 


2T< 4 2 


"T <T 


s 


c 
c 


^ > 


= C 


•^ 


^c % 


cr c 


4CC 


*~> 


4Kr *J 


c 


^tsc 



aSTTC:^ 


fiC c ^ 


CC_ f«5. 


<c"<rc 


c< - ^s 


cr c<«c 


f <C"cT CX< 


c c c 


<C c<iC 


. , ^r -crt 


c c c 


«r «x 


<Cj^ ; <£T< 


c c r 


^ <«3C 


«rc €Tc 


C C C 4 


£_'^: 


^c ^T : c 


< c c 


^-1 c «sje: 


C <2 
c C 


c <r c < 

cere 

c ■ c c <: 
c c ( «C 




^ c 


CCCC 
c c c <Z 


^jJH 


c €- 


c c CC 


• <<&: 


<: ccc <L 


m 


c 9 


C cc C 


<c«QB^ 


c *^> 


<: cc d 


c*^ 


cr <^5 


CcC C 




cr ^^ 


C cC d. 


c^fe 


crc jsc> 


cr^C C 


iQC 


rr ^acc. 


c c C 


' r Ct ,; < 


C< «^i *-■ 


cC C 


■ <CiC 


cr ^^'S 


c C O 


'iCiJcC 


Vc <l«l S 


c-oerc: 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 278 054 3 



H 



i 



